The dark days of San Paro
by SprinklerSystem
Summary: For the updated version please visit the AO3 link in my profile.
1. Chapter 1-Big city life isn't for anyone

**Chapter 1-Big city life isn't for anyone**

In San Paro, a city full of luxury, tourism and beauty lies a secret that many tourists and newcomers never get to see. Crimes in this innocent looking city happen mostly in the outskirts, in the places where most people would think twice before going. The once known criminal district shrunk in size from its glory years, yet the criminals themselves are here to stay, and boy are there a lot of em' in this big city. There are two major gangs who rule most of the criminal's business, the Bloodroses and the G-kings, sure they are not the only gangs that exist- but unlike the smaller ones, these gangs make a huge mark on the city. While these two gangs control a lot of hideouts, clubs, and money, they are almost always battling against their enemies- the enforcers. Obviously in this city some kind of law enforcement is needed to protect both the civilians and the economy, that's where the San Paro Police Department comes in place. Because of the constant need of combat the majority of employees in the SPPD are in fact field workers- in other words, they do every task that requires kicking some criminal ass, taking them down in a more physical way. You could say that San Paro is more of a battlefield, a hidden one that the public decides to ignore and try to move on with their own lives.

 **11:00 PM-Downtown shopping center**

This exact hour is the time when most criminals go "hunting" for some "food", it's the time when most shops are closed and the streets are quiet with little to no eye witnesses. But this kind of thing only happens in the downtown area, the center of San Paro is active 24/7 with the big city lights shining from the distance.

One jewelry store is about to close, the shopkeeper preparing to shut off the store's lights and lock the entrance door. Well, not before a special guest comes along. Before shutting the lights he sees someone at the door, surprised from the late costumer he walked to him with a raised brow.

-"Excuse me sir, this is closing time, I'm afraid you must leave. You can come back tomorrow if you wish, I'm open almost the entire week."-The shopkeeper said to the man, in comparison the shopkeeper looked like a small puppy standing next to a tall Doberman.

-"Oh but this kind of thing can't wait for tomorrow, you're Howard Evans right? I came here because my contact notified me that he needs his order to be picked up from this store"-The man replied to the shopkeeper, with a cigarette in his mouth and a smirk on his face. The shopkeeper took a gander at the stranger before replying to him, noticing the big scar on his left eye- it seems that it even damaged a small part of the eye as well.

-"Mind if I ask what happened to your eye?"-The shopkeeper asked.

-"I don't think you really want to know that, now let's talk business shall we? Let me in and I'll tell you what my contact ordered. He's a very busy man and can't be bothered with waiting so I suggest doing it quickly."-The man added.

-"V-very well, come in then."-The shopkeeper escorted the mysterious man into the store and close the door after him, placing the "Closed" sign on it to prevent other people from thinking the store is still open.

-"So what did he exactly order? And what's his name so I'll know where to find it"

-"His name is Yew, Yew Are-dead."

-"That's a very odd na-"-Before he manages to continue speaking the man stabbed the shopkeeper in the chest with great force, laughing slightly at the gory scene around him. Luckily the street was empty, and no witnesses saw what happened, a perfect opportunity for him to steal the jewels in the store. The body couldn't be left behind so he had the idea to take a match and burn the place, no evidence can remain after this robbery.

This man was known as Blake Price, a loyal Bloodroses member who has an odd mind with the will to kill anyone who dares to stop him from doing his job. He wasn't exactly the highest ranking criminal but he did get himself a decent reputation with his co-workers and contacts who give him the jobs he needs for money.

Many rookie criminals, like Blake in the past, had to work their asses off day and night to get enough money for themselves. The simple policy is basically this: The higher your rank, the less missions you do because of the risk of getting caught is bigger than a rookie's. High ranked criminals pretty much live the easy life, with plenty of cash and lack of missions- they mostly lay low to not get arrested by the SPPD. But in Blake's case, he still needs to earn a few extra dollars to sustain himself daily, so he tries to do as many missions as he can find- despite those missions take away his free time and energy, he does them anyway for the sake of money.

Blake took as many jewels he could carry and placed them in a big bag he found at the storage room before finally leaving, setting the store on fire with a small match. Thanks to the store's mostly wooden structure it burned down and barely left any signs of the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2- Bound to the Bloodroses

**Chapter 2- Bound to the Bloodroses**

 **11:35- Bloodrose's HQ, Waterfront dist.**

Blake finally arrived at the H.Q, grabbing the sack full of jewels from the trunk of his car and heading to the entrance to open the door. Inside, Blake noticed the rather small amount of people today, usually the entire building would be full of criminals desperately seeking for a job to do. He noticed Byron, his contact, calling him by waving his hand and a light smirk on his gritty face. Byron, like any criminal had the distinct clothing and hair to match his faction - he had black hair, a dark leather jacket stained with blood, and loose pants that almost fell off him as he got off the counter to call Blake over. A few criminals in the back noticed the huge sack Blake was carrying and were wondering to themselves what is in there, they whispered to each other while seeing him walking to Byron. Blake didn't care about those guys gossiping on him, he ignored their chatter and continued to carry the heavy sack and deliver it to Byron.

\- "So I see you brought what I wanted successfully, is everything in there?" -Byron smirked, looking at the sack and opening it, waiting for Blake to respond.

\- "Everything I could carry, there was a shit load of jewels in that store, by the time I would collect every tiny piece of them the cops would have found me already. Also..I got rid of the evidence for you, just in case he would dare to tell this to the SPPD."- Blake smirked, showing Byron the knife covered in blood from his pocket.

\- "Good job Blake, though I can't give you the price you wanted, that kind of money can't be just given on such a simple job.. even a rookie could do this crap, so 5k is a little too far, even for you."- Byron frowned, he gave Blake his paycheck for the job, but as expected the amount is rather small, only around 200 dollars.

\- "So stop shitting me about getting a raise, prove yourself first..Sure you can shoot with an ALIG, but that doesn't mean a mid-rank like yourself deserves this kind of money yet. You should be thankful for getting an apartment and a car from us, others weren't so lucky and had to live from scratch, even with their low wage they still survived the first few days. If I were you, I would be grateful that the Bloodroses even gave a damn about my financial status that much, that they funded an apartment for me, hell even a fucking functioning car!"- Byron stood up in front of Blake, getting a little angry over of his idea that he would get more money than he really deserves. He pulled out a small pistol from his pocket and aimed it near Blake's face with a threatening look in his eyes.

\- "Do what you're told and everything will be alright, don't argue with me Blake..It's not worth your time."- Byron added, placing the pistol back into his pocket.

\- "Any more missions I could do? I need more money and this isn't even half of what I need for the rent this month."- Blake asked

\- "Well if you would show up two hours ago and taken more than one mission , but unfortunately for you, the others took those missions so you're free to go. I'll call if I receive something from the others, see you later"- Byron replied, giving Blake a slight pat on the back before walking away into his office in the back.

Blake sighed, seeing Byron leave he decided to do the same thing, he got into his car and drove back to his apartment 10 blocks away. Despite feeling tired, he tried to hold on to the wheel before falling asleep from exhaustion, he did all kinds of missions all day, from 5:00 AM till now. It's no wonder that he almost fell asleep during his drive home, luckily the apartment building was only a few meters away from him. During a normal work day, Blake usually had only 2 hours of break time before having to head to do other missions, back when he first joined it was even harder and it was a very stressed time for him. Finally, he arrived to the parking lot of his apartment building, parking the car and walking towards the entrance door to the building. The building itself was rather old yet it was the only home Blake had, same goes to his neighbors who didn't exactly own a gold mine. The elevator was broken like always so Blake had to take the stairs to the 7th floor, that's where he lived. Once he unlocked the door and got in, the strong smell of rotten food and spilt beer floated across his nose and made him cover it. The apartment was very low maintained due to Blake almost never being home, maybe for 3 hours a day if he's lucky enough, but he uses those 3 hours to sleep and nothing else. He discovered that the rotten smell came from the kitchen, the takeaway food he ordered rotted in the fridge and spread the smell around it. The fridge was almost empty, it only had leftovers, half empty beer cans and energy drinks- which made other smells mix in with the rot as well. Blake sighed, taking out a trash bag from the cabinet above him and getting rid of the rotten food from the fridge to prevent the smell from spreading any further.

You might think a criminal like him would have a better meal once in a while, but even mid ranked criminals have the issue of getting food on the table, not having enough time to buy food or ordering something that isn't a cheap meal which only lasts in the stomach for 3 hours. Half of the food Blake ate in his years as a criminal was from parties he attended, he took the scraps with him and saved them for as long as possible before they would spoil. After getting rid of all the nasty stuff in that fridge, Blake took out a can of beer that was still drinkable, placing it on the coffee table in the living room before going to the restroom. Once finishing his business and drinking the can of beer, he immediately jumped in his bed when opening the bedroom door. Unlike the rest of the place, the bedroom was the cleanest and barely had any filth, quite surprising for our criminal friend to keep his room so tidy, but leaving the rest of the place to get dirty with no issue.


	3. Chapter 3-Another restless day

**Chapter 3- Another restless day**

 **6:30 AM- Blake's apartment**

\- "Damn..This is the first time I slept so well, ugh better check if Byron sent me anything on the phone"- Blake mumbled to himself, looking at the clock and getting off the bed, stretching, then checking his Smartphone for any messages.

\- "You got some jobs to do today, you have one hour to show up or don't bother showing up at all"- Blake sighed upon seeing this message, cleaning his eyes and putting the phone back on the drawer next to the bed. He closed the bedroom door and headed to take a morning shower, coughing slightly and scratching his head with a soft yawn. Unfortunately for Blake, the water in the shower are almost always cold, he couldn't afford a heater, nor he had the time to install one. Once he started to wash himself, the water that dripped from his body had a gray texture, he looked at the dripping water and sighed. His entire body was covered in sweat, dry blood and dirt from all the dirty work he does, when he's lucky enough, he showers twice a **week** \- when you're in combat, personal hygiene is a low priority for a criminal like Blake. He rubbed his arms around his back and chest, feeling the rough and deep scars surrounding his once smooth body, from all those constant battles his skin paid an ugly price. You could pretty much see scars, wounds and nasty sores all over him, on his arms, legs, and most noticeable - on the face. It only took mere 2 minutes for him to do a quick shower with the ice-cold water, he took a dry towel and dried himself quickly. Sure he had a full hour for himself, but he tends to always do things in a hurry to catch some spare time for everything.

Like any day, he wore his black buttoned long shirt with a popped collar hiding a quarter of his jaw, long black pants, and of course the standard issued pair of black shoes with small blue stripes on them. It may seem dumb to wear all black in the unforgivable San Paro sun, but they were the only clothes he had left, that didn't get burned or damaged without repair. The simplest breakfast Blake could make in the remaining time was just black coffee and a cigarette on the side, he always liked to eat his food at the apartment balcony, also a good place to smoke and not stink the whole place. He had enough time to relax, which he wasn't used to at all, being a criminal is mostly just tight schedules and non stop pressure from both your team mates and the work itself.

Only after relaxing for several minutes, he couldn't take it anymore. This relaxation is something that he didn't experience for years, and it drove him mad enough to get to the Bloodroses HQ earlier than needed. His head was constantly pumping as he left the apartment, went downstairs and got in his car, rushing to the HQ as if time was pressing on to him, despite he had a lot of it just for himself.

 **7:05 AM- Bloodroses HQ, waterfront dist.**

He finally arrived at the HQ, surprised to see he wasn't the only one going for a mission **this** early in the morning, a whole line stood in front of him, full of criminals from mostly the low ranks. High ranks almost never show up to the HQ, for them all the missions and exact details are given via the Smartphone. The criminals kept pushing each other, as if they were standing in line for food with food stamps in their hands, well they **did** resemble homeless people a lot. Blake tried to push some people off to get to Byron eventually, it was a little hard but he did get through most of the criminals desperate for a job.

\- "Move along assholes, I can't wait any longer! ..Come on already! move your asses out of the damn way!" -Blake yelled at the criminals standing on the line, he was stressed, feeling like somebody is aiming a rifle on his head and if he won't get there on time he would be killed. They looked at him with a frown, hollering back at him with rage, and trying to fight their way into the contacts standing by. Byron, alongside Britney Bloodrose, another contact giving out missions from low to mid ranked criminals, stood there with him and tried to calm down the raging mob.

-"Hey, hey, hey be quiet all of you! Calm the fuck down or you all will go hungry today!"- The crowd heard Byron's words and silenced. -"Thank you, now..All low ranked criminals report for Britney, all low between mid rank report for me..Now stop making such a damn mess, we're civilized people after all aren't we? Or all of you are savages? Yeah I don't think so..Now act like human beings and stand in line without making any sudden movements."- Byron frowned, pointing to the criminals where to stand, then sitting on the counter with his palm on his forehead. **These idiots seriously act like little kids, Jesus...Why are low ranks so childish..-** Byron thought to himself before getting to see the next criminal in line. The line for mid ranks was much smaller than the low ranks line. So many rookies, so little missions and time.

Until it was Blake's turn, 5 different criminals took their jobs and rushed to do 'em as fast as they could. They wanted to get more when they get back, time is precious for job hunters. Blake raised his brow from their immediate reaction to getting a mission, he thought that those guys might've took the job hunting too far.

Finally, Blake was able to speak to Byron. -"Finally someone who isn't insane as fuck, how was your long awaited sleep bro?"- Byron asked, patting Blake on the back. -"It was pretty good, but I'm still not really used to it..Anyway I need my missions, and you need your manual labor, give me what I need and this'll be quick."-Blake replied with a slightly faster tone. -"Woah there, no need to rush this thing..Well, anyway, your missions for today are: Join the team in the Financial district, they need some backup with the cop problem. Raid a house and steal the drugs that were taken away from my associates by an enforcer, And...wow lucky you, that is it for today..Consider yourself lucky Blake, now go do your work"- Byron said, giving Blake a second pat on the back before letting him go do his job.

It may seem like a small amount of missions, but each can last even up to 5 hours, depending on the case itself, and the number of people present for that specific mission. Some missions can be done alone, yet many require a team of at least 5 people, or even more when things get dirty.


	4. Chapter 4-Cars go boom, guns go bang

**Chapter 4-Cars go boom, guns go bang**

7:35-Financial Dist. slums area [Drug market]

Blake drove to the location, on the way he saw a large pile of burnt police vehicles on the sidewalk, a sign that he is getting closer. He got interrupted by one of the criminals, he seemed to be asking for help from Blake. -"Oh dude you're here, we need backup quick! The cops are calling in for more people and we need a machine gunner, you are one right?"-The criminal yelled, the sounds of explosions and loud gunfire made it hard to hear anything so yelling was the only way to make Blake hear him.

-"Yeah I got an ALIG, is that good enough?"-Blake replied, yelling as well.

-"Hell yeah, follow me and I'll tell you where to stand at"- The criminal waved at Blake, showing him where to go. Blake got out of his car and took out the ALIG from the trunk- an ALIG was considered as a slow, yet a powerful machine gun, mostly used against enemy vehicles. The two ran towards the main area where the enforcers started to fight back, the criminal signaled Blake to take cover. -"You see that group of Vaqueros next to those guys at 12 o'clock? If you blow them up with your ALIG it'll give the rest of our team a chance to strike while they are trying to recover themselves. Just stay hidden and don't let them see or hear you, or else they will know what we plan to do"- The criminal said to Blake in a silent tone, the two were hiding behind a wall 20 meters away from the enforcing team. A bunch of other remaining criminals hid nearby as well, in case Blake won't make it they would have to fight their way through , with weaker weapons but at least they had something to fire. -"Our backup unfortunately just got cancelled, they had to attend to more important missions, so right now you're the only hope we got to get rid of those rats from here. The cops tried to take down one of our drug dealers..Sadly they killed him before we got the chance to save him, and now they are trying to take us down too..The name's Shawn, and you must be Blake..Anyway, good luck with those guys, I'll try and distract their view from your point temporarily, when you get the chance shoot the engines and make the enforcers blow up!"-Shawn smiled at Blake, then he walked to his post and waited for the right time to distract the enforcers.

Meanwhile the enforcers stood around the area where they killed the drug dealer, his body was laying next to them, they circled it and looked at every possible direction a criminal could pop up. 5 of them were close enough to get hit by the explosion, but the other 4 were less likely to get seriously hit, so those 4 the hidden criminals will have to take on after Blake blows up the engine and kills the first 5 enforcers.

-"See anything yet?"-An enforcer said to his colleague while looking around

-"Nah..Not yet"-He replied with a sigh, using his Binoculars for a possible sign of a criminal around. "-Why won't they strike already..What the hell are they waiting for, the Messiah?"-He laughed, once again patrolling around with the Binoculars.

-"Hey! Over here scrubs! If you want to catch me so bad, come and get me!"-Shawn taunted them, attempting to lure the cop's eyes away.

-"What the hell is he trying to do, get himself killed?"-The first said to Shawn sarcastically.-"Well, let's not keep the poor man waiting, after him!"-The enforcer signaled the others to fire at his command. While the enforcers aimed at Shawn, Blake took a run for it and hid closer to the vehicles to get a better angle, only trying to lock a target with this heavy machine gun was hard already. When the enforcers locked their eyes at Shawn, Blake took it as the signal when Shawn gave him a quick wink, he started to fire bullets to the Vaquero's engines. In a matter of seconds the engines began to leak and smoke from the heavy fire, the surrounding enforcers took a massive hit in the legs, a common targeted weak spot. Before they had a chance to escape the engines started to set fire, and BOOM the enforcers nearby exploded with them, leaving traces of blood, fire and the Vaquero's remaining skeleton. The surviving ones were still after Shawn, he lead them to a meet up point where the hidden criminals patiently waited to kill on sight. Before Shawn got away without a hit from the battlefield, a dying enforcer had the chance to shoot him in the head while laying down on the pavement, bleeding to death. Like a piece of plastic Shawn fell on the ground and bled from the bullet, dying quickly with the same enforcer who killed him. Blake showed up to the scene when he finally got rid of all the enforcers in his spot, he looked at Shawn's dead eyes and lowered his head to respect him, so did the criminals surrounding him.

-"He was a great planner, if it wasn't for him we would all be in prison by now"- One of the criminals said with his head lowered and his weapon drawn forward like a general respecting his fallen soldier's death. -"But I bet the rest here agree with me, if it wasn't for your ALIG Blake, we would have been dead anyway. We'll take his body from here and bury it somewhere, you can head on to your next job if you'd like."- The mourning criminal added.

Before leaving the area, Blake took a gander around him. He saw burnt and shot bodies that laid around the pavement covered in blood and empty bullets. He felt like he was leaving from war, only looking at the scene made him a little shocked, but not too much. It's not the first time he got to saw a bloody battlefield, but it still gets him every time he sees it after a mission, whether successful or not, it still made him feel terrible. Only after mere seconds of looking at his surroundings again, he left to the next mission as if this never happened. The ambulance siren was already on its way to pick up the deceased enforcers, once hearing it he hurried into his car, pushed on the gas pedal and drove off quickly. Criminals like Blake tend to experience trauma after seeing this many bodies, blood and other gory scenes in their jobs, but eventually you get used to that emotional reaction. Many criminals actually stopped showing emotion to their killing, to prevent a random mental breakdown, and to show the rest how tough and cold hearted they really are. Blake sometimes acts cold hearted and cruel as well, but in some cases he can break down with rather unpleasant side effects. He has been this way ever since he joined the Bloodroses 7 years ago, feeling under pressure, and the fear of getting caught almost always chases his mind.


	5. Chapter 5-Respect for the dead

**Chapter 5- Respect for the dead (Long chapter incoming)**

While driving to the next mission, he decided to call Byron and ask him about Shawn a little. It made him wonder, do the contacts care about the death of the fallen ones?

Byron saw his pocket vibrating, he picked up the phone and raised his brow from seeing the caller. -"Aren't you supposed to do your missions? If you finished them already I'd say you're getting pretty serious"-Byron informed to Blake, even before starting to hear what he had to say.

-"I'm on my way to the second one, I just want to know what are you going to do about Shawn, the planner who was with me in the first mission."- Blake asked, waiting for an answer while rapidly driving through the narrow road.

-"Shawn? ...How does he look like again?"-Byron asked in slight confusion, he barely remembers how his own men look like, so from time to time he would ask how does he look, act and etc.

-"You know.. Brown spiky hair on the half of his head, brown eyes, short..Um.. I'd say he was around 20 something"-Blake responded, he too almost forgot how Shawn looked like before he got shot in the head.

-"Oh yeah what about him?"

-"He died today, you know that right?"-Blake expected Byron to know of this, but it's reasonable for busy people like Byron to forget minor mission details.

-"And? ..Oh god not this again.. Blake, I told you thousands of times, people die here every fucking day. From rookies to rich high ranked guys, what do you think makes that Shawn guy so special that I should give a damn about his mistakes?! Seriously you've been in this business since you turned 18, I thought you'd forget about this damn thing already. He. Is. Dead. End of story. I'm not going to set up a funeral for every idiot who does his job wrong and gets killed for it, you should be considered lucky not to die for the past 7 years.. Others died on their first day, that Shawn guy was here for like what...3 years now? He isn't any different from the others who work here, nobody gets special treatment, end of discussion." -He snarled at Blake, he hated it when people like him ask these questions. If he were to care about every little soul who worked for him, his job would have turned him mad, thinking about the fact that around 10 of his workers die _per day._ Once proving his point he hung up the call and threw the phone on the ground, slamming it on the hard concrete floor.

Blake sighed, tossing the phone on the driver's seat while holding one of his hands on the wheel. **Jesus, I can't believe almost nobody cared about that guy, his friends sure gave a damn about it..Well I guess I can't stop Byron or the other contacts from not giving a shit.** He thought to himself and sighed **. I should just focus on my own job right now, let's see.. Gotta help those guys over there with stealing back some drugs, should be easy enough.** He added, holding the wheel tight while pushing the gas pedal with his foot to increase the speed, leaving tire marks on the asphalt.

Once entering the crime scene with his car, he saw that the mission was just getting started, as he attempted to park the car in a hidden place - the other criminals were already walking towards the building, holding many kinds of fire arms, including tools to busting open the door. He got the ALIG from the trunk and ran towards the location.

A bunch of them surrounded the door, threatening the enforcer to come out and surrender, while one of them attempted to break in from the window. Blake moved in and asked if he could do anything , the criminal whose about to bust open the door said with a grunt that there's no need for backup, and everything is under control. Despite what he said, Blake wasn't so sure, and had the feeling this was some kind of trap.

Suddenly, a group of enforcers came from their hiding spots, just several meters away from the criminals, they lacked in numbers..However they had some accurate snipers on their team. It was only a matter of minutes before the blood began to shed, the criminals noticed the attack, and stroked back with the exact force. Blake helped some of his team-mates, he got hit several times, but he ignored the pain and instead tried to save them from getting killed. Even if he tried to fend off the enforcers, he alone couldn't do it to all of them, he was able to shoot down some targets, yet some of his own got killed as well.

-"Get them! Don't let them get away with the drugs!"-One enforcer shouted, throwing a tear gas grenade at the darting criminals. Successfully hitting a few of them, and taking them out before anything else happens. -"Watch out for that ALIG carrier, stay out of his range!"-The enforcer added, looking around for Blake. He heard the sound of an ALIG commencing to fire once more at his crew, so he knew this can't be any good.

Blake hid behind a wall, reloading his heavy weapon and making sure nobody's close to him. Hearing steps coming from the back, he held the ALIG tight and aimed at the source, an enforcer came to him. Blake panicked, thinking the cops brought some backup to take on him, though this wasn't the case. An enforcer putting his hands in the air slowly approached Blake, the same enforcer who threw the tear gas grenade. He had an idea to make Blake think he's giving up, so he could steal the ALIG, kill him and get back on killing the rest of his foes. Though as easy as he thought it would be, Blake knew these old fashioned tricks, without saying a word he began to fire rapidly at the enforcer, leaving holes all over his chest. Blake shook his head, giving a devious smile at the bleeding corpse. He ran back to help his co workers, but it seemed like it was too late. The remaining criminals were short in number, they hid inside empty trashcans to protect themselves from the surviving snipers still patrolling the roof.

Although he wanted to aim and put bullets all over those sniper's bodies, his ALIG couldn't fire from such a range and hit as effective as it can with close-mid range. So instead of hitting them on the head, an idea came to his mind. While the snipers were busy looking at the other side and reloading, Blake snuck to the hidden criminals and told them the idea. -"Now listen, those snipers can't be hit with our guns...But if we can get up there without them hearing our steps, they wouldn't notice us..And then it's bye bye for them.."-Blake whispered, he kept looking back at the snipers while giving out the plan, to make sure they didn't spot him yet.

The remaining criminals nodded, sneaking to the sniper's post and attempting to attack them from behind. Blake was right behind them, passing them a smoke grenade to throw at the unsuspecting snipers. Blake's co worker threw the grenade with force on the ground, causing it to bounce a little, and release its smoke.

-"Holy shit watch out a smoke grenade!"-One of the snipers warned the rest, seeing the grenade hit and expand the smoke across the post. Despite the warning, it didn't take long before Blake and the crew snuck up like wolves in the fog, viciously attacking the snipers by strangling them and pinning them down on the ground. The smoke vanished from the air quickly, allowing for them to see the results. The three snipers were laying on the floor, all suffocated to death with their eyes and mouths wide open. As if they were frozen solid. They victoriously cheered and roared from the top of their lungs as a success for killing those pesky snipers, however, it was too early to celebrate. The drugs were gone, two enforcers escaped with severe wounds on their bodies, carrying the drugs away from the scene. -"FUCK! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY GOT AWAY!"-One of the criminals added in rage, throwing his gun on the floor and breathing heavily. -"That's not the worst case..Look around you.."-Blake walked to him, showing the criminal the true loss. From the roof it was clearly seen how the area was full of fatalities, 11 criminals came... Only 3 survived. The enforcers were short in number, but due to the sniper's great aim, they took down a huge portion of their enemies. Originally being only 6, three snipers and three other enforcers. Blake placed his forehead on his hand, the terror of seeing such bloodshed caused an uneven feeling in his corrupt mind. But just like any day of the week, no funerals were made, and everyone else moved on with their lives as if this never happened.


	6. Chapter 6-Forget it ever happened

**Chapter 6- Forget it ever happened**

Blake and the remaining criminals planned on heading back to Byron's, there's no time to mourn, nor a need to care too much. After all, criminals die every day, thinking about every single one of them is bound to drive you mad. The two other surviving criminals were in terrible condition, they could barely keep up with Blake. One was suffering from a broken leg and a bleeding wound near his neck, the other was shot in the chest and lost a lot of blood on the way. It didn't take long till they collapsed, falling near Blake's feet and covering his soles with blood as he stepped away from them. He sighed, took a cigarette from his pocket and continued to walk towards his parked car. **You can't do anything now...Just leave and forget Blake..Forget this ever happened-** He said to himself with his head lowered, inhaling the fumes and exhaling them through his nostrils. Throwing the cigarette away as quickly as he lit it.

Blake drove back to the HQ, feeling a little nervous about telling Byron what happened in that mission. But he couldn't just lie to him and tell they are alive, lying would make him in even more trouble than he already is. Despite Byron not caring for his men, losing many at once so quickly can make him pretty furious. Blake parked the car near the entrance, walking towards the door and taking a deep breath before opening it. **Just tell him what happened, be calm..Don't show any signs of guilt on you..REMAIN CALM-** These words kept whispering through his head, he wanted them to stop yet they intensified the closer he walked to Byron. When he was finally near him, the whispering stopped.

-"Well look who's back, How was the mission?"-Byron smiled, a surprising reaction from him when he was angry as hell just around an hour ago.

-"It..Had a little flop. We lost the drugs, and some members."-Blake replied, trying to hide away the true facts for a while.

-"Where's everyone else? They should be lining up for the next mission by then..Are they still there or something?"-Byron took a look behind Blake's shoulder, seeing if any of the criminals are approaching the door.

-"T-They..Died..All of them..I tried to protect them but I couldn't do it, all 10 of 'em died today. Two were alive with me, but died shortly after from their heavy wounds and bleeding. I warned them all, that this is a trap- no mission is THAT easy..But they didn't listen, and died from their mistakes.."-Blake replied, stuttering slightly and speaking a little louder than Byron.

-"You...I can't believe it..YOU KILLED MY BEST MID RANKED MEN! YOU COULD HAVE SACRAFICED YOURSELF INSTEAD YOU FUCKING MORON!"-His mood quickly changed from happy to angry once more, yelling at Blake's face. -"You could have prevented this...You could have killed those damn cops!-" Byron continued to burst his anger on Blake.

-"I COULDN'T DO JACK SHIT, YOU THINK I CAN JUST KILL THEM ALL WITH AN ALIG? THERE WERE FUCKING SNIPERS UP THERE..I COULDN'T AIM ON THEM AT ALL!-"Blake screamed back at Byron, unleashing his rage as well. -"THIS WHOLE THING IS YOUR FAULT, YOU SENT US THERE AND YOU KILLED THEM!"-Blake pushed him aside, staring angrily at his eyes.

-"You really think I'd put all of you in a mission if I were to know it was a sting?! YOU THINK I HAVE NO BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN SEND MY OWN MEN TO DIE, KNOWING THAT SAME MISSION IS A STING OPERATION BY THOSE COCK SUCKING COPS?! I can't prevent those cops from sending stings to you, those guys were morons to not know.. Like yourself.. Blaming me for what the cops did..-"Byron replied with the same amount of anger on Blake, holding his fist in his hands and giving him a strong punch. The punch hit him so hard in the face that he fell on the floor on his back. -"You're dismissed...I'll notify you if any missions pop up..Do not piss me off again Blake, or it will go bad for you"-He got closer to Blake, staring at him and tightly holding the edge of his shirt. Then loosing the grip and letting Blake's head hit the hard floor.

With no choice, Blake got up and left like it was nothing, the pain was huge but he knew that if he were to show pain to Byron, he would be considered a weakling. As he got out of the HQ, he wiped away the running blood from his lips and nose with his arm, leaving blood marks over his black shirt. The blood still leaking from there, dripping on the pavement outside. He ignored the bleeding and went to get into his car and drive home, suddenly he saw something that made him crouch and hide behind the car instead. It was an enforcer vehicle chasing down a runaway criminal in a black fancy Vegas that was presumably stolen. The last thing Blake needed are more cops, so he hid behind his car, and peeked from the window to see what's going on. Suddenly, he sees a female enforcer coming out of the front door window of the police car, aiming a gun to the runaway's car tires to puncture them.

The runaway looking back at the shooting enforcer, he didn't notice the car driving straight to a streetlight, and crashed into it with the front of the stolen Vegas all damaged and the engine releasing smoke from the collapse. Blake raised his brow from the scene, he was surprised by the sheer accuracy of that woman who shot the tires. The police vehicle parked right next to the broken Vegas, with two female enforcers coming out of it and pointing their guns at the runaway criminal leaving the car with his hand in the air. One approached him while the other made sure he wasn't going to run any longer by pointing the pistol on his forehead from a few centimeters away. The enforcer pinned the runaway criminal into the wall, giving him a quick body search and using handcuffs to arrest him. The task was done quickly, the two enforcers dragging the man to the back and leaving without a trace.

(Sorry for the rather short chapter this time, I'll make it up to you in the continuing ones ^^)


	7. Chapter 7-The mysterious enforcer

**Chapter 7- The mysterious enforcer**

Blake got up, he wasn't sure if what he just saw was for real, or his mind is playing tricks on him. **Damn those two were pretty good...I wouldn't want to be caught by them..But it's not like I still can't hurt them if they do threaten my freedom one way or another. Remember Blake, all enforcers are enemies.. No enforcer is innocent.** He said to himself quietly while reaching his hand to the car door, it was shaking a little, covered in dry blood. **Jesus I gotta get this cleaned up..** He looked at his arm, covered in blood and smelled like a butcher shop landed on it.

Blake started the car and drove back home, to enjoy the few hours he has for himself to clean up and get some rest. As he drove through the busy roads of the city, he kept seeing a flashback of him falling on the floor from Byron's punch. He was nervous, wiping sweat from his forehead while trying to focus his eyes on the road. If he were to make more mistakes like this, he would have been killed by Byron, or by anyone else that the Bloodroses would want to send. Even though this was a criminal group, basic rules and policies were had to be made to keep everything in order. The leading gangs can't deal with disobedient members, sometimes not having any choice but to end their lives before they cause any commotion. Blake slowed down the car as it approached a street light, giving him a chance to take out a cigarette and smoke, to calm him down a little. He grabbed one from his pocket and lit it with his two hands shaking, still noticing the dry marks of blood on both of them. As the traffic light signaled him to drive, he inhaled it quickly and drove on home.

Blake parked the car, and went upstairs to his apartment. It was annoying to take all those steps, but since the elevator is not going to be fixed any time soon, he had to deal with it. Finally reaching his door, he opened it quickly and slamming it as he got inside, without even thinking he rushed to the bathroom mirror to take a gander at what Byron did to his face. He took a few steps back from seeing red marks all over it, though it was just dry blood, it still looked like Byron broke his nose. He released water from the sink tap, gathering some in his hands and washing his face. The washed away blood got mixed in with the water, making the sink look like Blake bled all over it once letting the water down the drain.

With his face clean, he saw that his face wasn't too much damaged, feeling lucky that his nose didn't fracture or break after Byron's raging punch. He took a small sip from the running water, gargled it and spit out all of the remaining blood. He took a shower, then using his old washing machine to clean up the messy clothes. For now, because his only pieces of clothing were being washed, he had to walk around the place with only his underwear. He sat on the couch and looked at the ceiling, hearing his loud neighbors hump each other on the next floor, sighing and moving to his bedroom, to sit in a more quiet place. Blake felt a little worried about those enforcers from before, yet he also knew that there's no need to show fear, what's to be afraid of..They were ordinary cops doing their daily job, and he could kill 'em as much as any other person. One of the main things Blake wasn't afraid of is killing someone on command, if that same person is a threat to him or to his work, he will show no mercy on that same person and his..Or her life if needed to. He couldn't lay down, so he got up again to look at himself on the mirror.

His bedroom mirror unlike the bathroom one, showed all of his body, a strong yet a damaged body covered by scars and stitched wounds. His eyes had a purple pattern, hiding away his real eye color, even his hair- dyed in deep blue hid away his true self. If he were to remove the eye contacts and the dye, he would be seen as a whole other person. His eyes stared at the mirror, constantly moving around and checking his reflected appearance. He took a small hair brush from the drawer next to the mirror, and brushed his hair and the little goatee on his chin. Unfortunately for him only after 1 hour of little self grooming and getting his clothes out of the washing machine, Byron called him. Blake rushed to the living room to pick up the phone.

-"You got a mission to do, you'll see some criminals around the abandoned highway, they need to deliver a suitcase full of cash, and the cops are preventing them from doing anything. Come over there and one of the guys will tell you where to go, hurry up! They need you as backup!"-Byron said, hanging up as soon as he finished delivering the message. Blake rushed downstairs, into his car- driving quickly to the location. The abandoned San Paro Highway. Once used as a transportation route for the citizens, but ever since it got taken over by criminals, nobody dares to drive there anymore. Blake stopped the car nearby, getting the ALIG and loading it with some bullets before heading closer to the crime scene. Once there, he got greeted by a sniper behind an old tin construction office. -"Good thing you came, about time we got some backup..Is anyone else coming by any chance?"-The sniper looked away for a split second before looking back at Blake. -"No, Byron told me to show up..I haven't seen anyone else behind me."-Blake replied silently, peeking from the office and seeing a bunch of enforcers guarding the delivery point.

-"Well since you're a big guy, distract those bastards by blowing 'em up, and by blowing 'em up I mean KABOOM all over the place!"The sniper replied with enthusiasm. -"Though watch out for that girl over there, with the brown hair and blue eyes..Boy, she's an accurate bitch let me tell ya that.. Killed 4 of our men with the help of her friends over there. Me and my other buddies here are gonna split up and attack while you get up on the roof and shoot everything you see!"-He added, pointing Blake to the roof. Blake nodded with a smirk, grabbing his ALIG, strapping it on his back and using the ladder to get on the roof.

Blake felt a little enthusiastic as well, so he started to direct his ALIG towards the air, shoot around with it and laugh manically. The sudden flow of adrenaline and the urge to kill enforcers made him look even more crazy than he already is. -"YOU SCRUBS WILL NEVER BEAT US, THE BLOODROSES NEVER FALL!"-Blake yelled, shooting to the sky and sticking his tongue with enthusiasm. -"This idiot wants to get himself killed?"-One of the enforcers added, taking cover behind the car. -"Well let's not keep him waiting, make his dream come true"-The same female enforcer from before was there, she smirked and aimed her N-TEC at him. She almost hit his forehead but the bullet passed above Blake's hair as he jumped up and down like a crazed monkey.

The surrounding criminals came out of their hiding spots and opened fire at the enforcers, a surprise attack that they weren't ready for. -"KATY GO TAKE CARE OF THAT LUNATIC ON THE ROOF, WE'LL TRY AND STOP THE OTHERS, KEEP THAT MACHINE GUNNER OUT OF SIGHT!"-One enforcer shouted, getting hit by Blake's continuous fire at one of the cars. She nodded, running towards Blake with a frown on her face, Blake saw her approaching and started to lead her away from the scene. He kept firing around the area, to try and scare the enforcer, but it didn't work like he thought it would.

She walked closer to Blake, holding the N-TEC in her hands, closing him in a concrete wall. He took out the ALIG and tried to shoot at her, but it was empty, all of the bullets that remained in there he used to fire at the sky. She frowned, pointed the N-TEC barrel on his forehead, and got ready to pull the trigger on him. In her eyes, he seemed too helpless to hurt her, with no weapons on him, and cornered to a wall, he had no possibility to fight back. He frowned back, staring her down and expecting to meet death right in the eye. But instead, she didn't hit him..She hit the wall, a few centimeters away from his body. Without a single word, she left the area and rushed to help her co workers in battle. **W-What the fuck was that, what was she waiting for? Why didn't she just kill me right now...** He thought to himself, looking at the mysterious enforcer heading back to the crime scene.


	8. Chapter 8-Embarrassment

**Chapter 8-Emberassment**

"Hey come back, we're not done here!"-Blake yelled to the rushing enforcer, following her as she ran towards her co workers. Before she could reach them, he pinned her down and aimed a pistol on her head. -"I said...We're not done yet bitch!"-He fired at the ground to intimidate her, missing her head by only a few centimeters.

-"Get your filthy criminal ass off me!"-She yelled at him

-"Why don't you make me first eh? You cops are all the same, PATHETIC WEAKLINGS WHO CAN'T DO JACK SHIT!"- He laughed manically

-"I have no time for this.."- She said to herself, slightly moving her arm to reach to her pockets. Upon finding a Taser in one of them, she reached on to it and shocked Blake in the arm, giving her a small chance to escape his grasp.

Blake fell on the ground, he had a spasm after being electrocuted by the Taser. He screamed in pain, having the chance to glance at the enforcer running away from him once more. -"F-Fuck...G-G-Get back here..."-He continued to spasm, stuttering by the aftermath. Several minutes passed before he could get back up on his feet and come back to do the mission, he picked up his dropped ALIG and strapped it to his back.

The mission was successful for the criminals, they stopped the enforcers from reaching the suitcase, and Katy the remaining one, killed 2 of the men who attempted to shoot her. She and her co-workers were outnumbered as more criminal backup showed up. They had no choice but to flee, if they were to stay any longer, their lives will be lost.

-"YOU BETTER RUN! WEAKLINGS! COWARDS!"- The criminals yelled to the fleeing enforcers, laughing and shooting to the sky as a method of celebration. -"TONITE WE PARTY 'TILL THE SUN GOES UP!"-One added, the others cheering and raising their weapons in victory. Blake smiled, he was standing close and admiring the pleasant view. **There's nothing better than seeing cops run away like the scrubs they are..** Blake thought to himself, taking out a cigarette and smoking from pure enjoyment. Today he comes back to the HQ with some pride on his shoulders. Instead of driving with his teammates, he drove alone this time, he felt proud enough to tell Byron that he won the mission today. Despite him only stopping one enforcer, he believed it was a major part of the mission. He approached the headquarters with high hopes, opening the door and heading to talk to Byron.-"Hey Byron, you won't believe wha-"Blake said before getting interrupted by Byron.

"No need to explain anything Blake, the guys told me everything...Good job on that mission, but seriously, you let an enforcer- A female enforcer beat the living hell 'outta ya? 'Thought you are a merciless criminal.. But getting your ass kicked by a woman is just fucking hilarious!"-Byron laughed

-"Ugh, but she did something unexpected...She just ran away and didn't attack me back, only tased me once and that's it. I'm telling you Byron, something here isn't right"-Blake replied, feeling a little ashamed when Byron laughed right in his face.

-"Pfft, Maybe she took a liking of you eh Blake? Oh how cute, big boy Blake here can't hit a woman, Jesus Blake I thought you had some balls!"-He continued to laugh at Blake. -"She can't possibly be physically stronger than you, I never knew you had a soft spot for the ladies eh Blake?"-Byron winked at him, laughing for a while before stopping to speak a little more seriously. -"If needed, you know what to do..Just like you did with Natalie a few months ago"-He whispered to Blake. -"Your paycheck will be sent to your account shortly, for now, go and join the party tonight- Have a little break once in a while"-Byron gave him a short smile before turning his face to another criminal asking for a job. The surrounding criminals gossiped and laughed at Blake while pointing their fingers at him. Blake ignored them and walked away. However, the only world that floated in his mind was the name Byron mentioned. Natalie.

According to many criminals, they knew only one simple thing about her- she was Blake's ex. When he hears that cursed name, he wants to break something or even someone because of it. Nobody else but Blake and Byron know what _really_ happened to her, and both are keeping that secret away from the rest.

Meanwhile at the San Paro Police Department, located at the center of the city, Katy Anderson- the so called mysterious enforcer, was having a little chat with her friends in the break room. She had short dark brown hair, crystal blue eyes and a soft Caucasian tone. Unlike Blake with his darker skin tone, squinty eyes, spiky blue hair and contacted purple eyes. She was only 21, joined the SPPD at age 18, and gained some good reputation thanks to her great performance on duty.

-"So did you kill that enthusiastic spiky haired weirdo?"-One the enforcers asked her

-"Nah, he wasn't armed. To me, attacking a man without a weapon isn't a worthy fight, he didn't have any ammo on him, plus he seemed like a confused child more than an actual threat to me. I think he got _way too_ excited in that mission, got no clue how is he a Bloodrose- a gang with usually tough guys trying to look cool and intimidating."-She laughed gently, her co-workers following her with delight, nothing makes enforcers laugh more than some gossip over another criminal "nobody".

Back at our criminal friend, Blake drove back home with a feeling of disappointment, he thought that Byron would really care about what he did. Despite being insulted by Byron and everyone else, he still had to do his job for one main reason- Money. His current car was very slow compared to the cars his teammates owned, he never changed it. It was the same car he got on his first day, as a gift from the Bloodroses to newcomers, as expected it was a cheap car with some Bloodrose decals all over it, a very basic car for a basic criminal. Blake was living with debts ever since he joined, he had to spend his money on basic necessities, not to mention the rent and other bills.

-"I can't believe those assholes, laughing at me like I'm some kind of fucking clown. I could have died there, and nobody even bothered to check up on me. If it wasn't for that damn enforcer chick I would get some damn respect for once, she'll pay with her life for making a fool out of me"-Blake said to himself, sitting on his old couch and reloading his ALIG with bullets. A huge portion of his purchased ammo he kept at home, in his mind it was a more convenient way of storing them. -"I bet she got herself a little bounty on her head from those shooting skills, I could always use that money to get a better car for once. Tracking her shouldn't be a problem, once I get my hands on her she'll regret the day she was born"-He smirked, giving an angry expression on his cold face.

As the sun slowly sets on the beaches of the waterfront area, the night begins-the highlight of criminal activity and the heaviest work hours for the enforcers. Katy, alongside her teammates started their car engines and drove to their next mission in the Waterfront district. According to the report some criminals are stealing valuable shipping luggage from the nearby ships, it's always a hard work to work at night and at sea simultaneously.

-"We got a luggage theft at one of ships, calling nearby units for backup"- the message was heard from the police radio at the approaching enforcer vehicles with Katy in her old Dolton. The enforcers finally arrived at the scene, they noticed that a huge part of the luggage inside of the main shipping tanks was missing, but like any investigation there are always signs of evidence. One of the male enforcers heard a sound coming from the driver booth of the ship, the door was open and it seemed that one of the criminals was hiding there. The tricky part was to get the criminal out and arrest him, since none of them knew if he was armed and dangerous or just afraid. A good friend of Katy named Jessie decided to climb up there, to try and capture this thief. When she finally got up there the criminal was shot with a note attached to his forehead with a rusty nail.

-"I'm afraid you're too late, the loot has been taken and evidence is gone. Good luck finding us now scrubs"- the note ended there, it had quite the messy writing and it wasn't clear who wrote this small note. Jessie, Katy and the rest of the enforcer team spitted up, looking for ANY possible evidence in the crime scene. After about half an hour of only searching for something ,a member from the team found something very interesting-Empty bullets that were fired by someone, and what seemed to be an assault rifle all out of ammo.

-"This is strange..why would someone leave their weapon behind?"-Katy asked, she held the evidence pieces to check for any fingerprints or any more clues of who did this. Suddenly, a huge gang of criminals came out of their hiding places, holding assault rifles, knives and other kinds of weaponry. As the enforcers noticed that they were surrounded, they had a choice-to fight them off or give up on the mission, but losing to these criminals would not be one of the choices.

-"Katy! take the evidence pieces and get out of here! these are very important and we can't lose these!"- Jessie shouted to her as she started to fight off the crowd of the raging criminals attempting to murder her. The evidence was more important than the lives, since if you got not evidence...criminals can still roam freely with no boundaries.

-"You can count on me Jessie!"-Katy shouted back, took the evidence and ran as fast as she could, away from the ship to her car. However..someone got called to "take good care" of her.

Even before Katy and the enforcers went to their night mission, Blake received a call from one of his contacts, Strega Bloodrose wanted him to raid a cargo ship with expensive luggage alongside other criminals for a good sum of money. Blake himself needed it most so he couldn't refuse the task, he drove towards the port, but additionally he had to stay in the port and wait for the signal..which was the criminals beginning to raid the enforcers.


	9. Chapter 9- Mercy

**Chapter 9-Mercy**

 **~EDITED~**

"This better be worth my time"-Blake sighed, looking at the cargo ship and noticing the signal. He took cover behind an old cargo tank, waiting for any enforcers passing by. -"Remember what Strega told you, if you see any cops, kill 'em on site with no mercy. Though why didn't she tell me to get on that cargo ship.. Eh what the hell, I'll just kill whoever's gonna pass and get my paycheck."-He said to himself quietly, his voice slightly echoing through the hollow cargo tank.

Katy got closer to the scene, seeing her car just up ahead, she rushed to it while holding the evidence in her hand. If they were to get to the wrong hands there would be no evidence to frame those crooks for their doings. -"W-What the?!"- She saw Blake's shadow from the tank, holding her weapon in her left hand while trying to grasp the evidence in her right hand. -"Come out of there with your hands up! If you don't follow my orders you will be shot on site!"-She yelled, pointing at the mysterious shadow coming from the hollow cargo tank. Blake stepped out slowly with his hands in the air, teasing Katy with a mocking smirk.

-"Tisk, tisk, tisk, look who showed up..the same girl from before, now THIS will be interesting!"- Blake said with a smirk, he came out of the cargo tank and lowered his hands to hold his ALIG.

-"You wouldn't dare..I'm warning you!, I may look weak but I'm-

-"Oh I know that darling.. I know EVERYTHING, you're that so called Criminal killer am I right? Pfft, pathetic. So Strega sent me here just to take care of you? this is my lucky day!"- Blake interrupted her, he stretched his fingers while he held the ALIG. When he looked at Katy, Blake showed no sense of fear or regret of what he can do to her. For him it is just a simple task-Kill and take away the evidence. Katy started to dash towards a stack of metal barrels to take cover , to hide from Blake's upcoming raid fire. He started to aim and fire from his ALIG to Katy's legs, trying to make her fall down before reaching her hiding spot. She dodged them and jumped quickly behind the metal barrels, Blake continuing to fire despite her being protected by the barrels. But not for long.

The barrels got punctured by Blake's massive fire, revealing lots of bullets holes and making Katy's face visible to his eye again.

-"You can't hide in there forever missy! FIGHT ALREADY YOU COWARD!"-He laughed manically, teasing her to come out of her hiding and fight him. She peeked from the barrels and frowned, placing the evidence down and taking out her N-TEC from the strap attached to her back. She took an aim at Blake's body, trying to be unreachable by ducking every time he fired towards her. His ammo slowly ran out when attempting to fire down the barrels, most of his bullets even dodged the target and landed in completely different places. His ALIG is known to sway the bullets from the actual target from time to time, a flaw to Blake's top weapon. Katy took that flaw as a chance to strike, she got out of her hiding spot and fired rapidly at Blake's torso to neutralize him. Instead of taking cover and dodging the fire he took the bullets in, still firing his remaining bullets at her with no sense of fear. Unfortunately even he had a limit, upon receiving heavy fire on his legs, he fell down like a timber on the heavy pavement. His legs bled and he squinted his eyes in pain, staring at Katy as she aims the N-TEC on his face. He could barely stand, yet he didn't give up just yet. He found a spare pistol in his pocket and tried to shoot Katy, but his body started to shake from the pain and so he missed his shots at her. She moved a little as he fired, only hitting a few centimeters from her shoe. Blake gave up, he didn't budge and let her arrest him.

-"FINE...GO AHEAD AND ARREST ME!"-He yelled, screaming in pain from the heavy injuries.

She proceeded to him with caution, pointing the N-TEC on his head as she looked at him laying on the ground, defeated. Katy placed the N-TEC on her back, doing a body search on him before taking out her handcuffs. She didn't find anything too dangerous, only a few bullets for a pistol, a lighter with a half empty pack of cigarettes and his wallet. Before arresting Blake she went to pick up the evidence from the back of the barrel- **This man can't do anything anyway, even if he tried-** she thought to herself and took the evidence then walked back to him. She then took out the handcuffs and locked them on Blake's hands, making sure he doesn't try anything as soon as she escorts him to the police car. Blake frowned as he felt her locking his hands, he tried to sway a little but with no luck his hands were completely bound to the cuffs. She helped him get up on his feet, escorting him to the vehicle with one hand on his back and the other holding the remaining pieces of the evidence. Before leaving the scene she got back to take Blake's ALIG and pistol, placing them in the trunk of the car.

Blake muttered as Katy seated him in the back of the car, closing the passenger door and heading to the driver's seat. Blake looked around, seeing he's just a barrier away from killing the enforcer. She started the engine and began to drive.

-"Fucking cops"- He said with an intimidating look at Katy's face, if he wasn't cuffed and his weapons weren't confiscated he would have been able to finish her off. He later starts to mock her by cursing and yelling through the barrier.

-"Will you shut the hell up?!"-She looked back and yelled at him, turning her face quickly to the road ahead. Despite yelling at his aggressively, she felt a little sorry for the injured crook. A little feeling of mercy and forgiveness started to develop in her mind.

-"Look.. I know you're gonna arrest me but hey cut me some slack! I'm injured as fuck! I can barely feel my leg-

-"I SAID SHUT UP!"- She angered, stopping the car with the breaks, making Blake's head move forward and get a heavy hit oh the barrier. She then continued to drive, trying to deny that she has mercy for this crook. After driving for a while she finally lets her feelings control this time, driving to the poor district area- where a clinic for crooks like Blake would go if medical attention is needed. She was one of the only cops who supported the idea of having a criminal clinic, so just like those supporters- she doesn't bother taking the illegal place down.

-"There we go..Finally"-He said with a slight smile on his face, knowing that his friend Rico isn't too far away to fix him up. Katy then stopped the car near the clinic.

-"Consider having a rather lucky day, I don't usually do this to anyone.. And if I see your criminal ass on a mission again, I won't hesitate to kill you. I'll make sure you'll rot in prison if I ever catch you one more time."-She said with a frown, getting off the driver's seat and walking to open the door for Blake and releasing him from the handcuffs. After he got freed, Katy gave his weapons back from the trunk, nearly throwing them on him.

He frowned in response. -"How the fuck is this my lucky day?!" As he yelled at her once letting him go she didn't reply. Getting back into her seat and driving away, leaving dust on Blake's pants as the tires rubbed quickly through the dirty road.

Blake went to the criminal's local first aid doctor-he wasn't much but he was the only one who would care enough for these low life rule breakers. His name was Rico Delao, despite his low reputation around the city on the civilian side, on the other rule breaking one he fits right in.

-"I can see you had _quite_ the job this evening. The usual as always?"-Rico said to Blake when seeing him entering the clinic.

-"Yep, launched bullets..This time in my leg and upper chest. Sorry to come in late before the end of your shift but I think you see exactly why I got here"-He said, pointing the bleeding wounds with his hands.

-"Lay down on the operating bed and I'll get right into it."-Rico said, putting on his operating clothes and directing Blake to the bed. -"You still coming to that party? I heard it's gonna be sick! I thought of going but I'm tired as hell, plus I doubt they would let me in even."-Rico asked Blake while getting his tools ready. Despite Rico not being related to a criminal gang, he still gets to hear and know passing by rumors and secrets from his costumers. He always sees and takes care of injured criminals and poor folk on a daily basis. The clinic itself looked rather poor looking, not the best in shape yet the only clinic that accepts high ranked criminals and poor people who cannot afford the expensive medical bills. It's a constant danger to work in an unlicensed clinic, but Rico always comes prepared with a shotgun hidden under his desk in case of any intruders or inspectors.

Rico began the procedure. Giving Blake an anesthetic- making him fall asleep in a matter of seconds. As soon as Blake fell into a deep sleep Rico could start making an incision around the bullet holes. The process for one unauthorized doctor was very rough, yet after 2 hours of hard work all of the bullets have been successfully removed. In his first years of becoming a doctor he had cases where he lost his patients due to inexperience and lack of staff members, yet as those years passed he learned how to work by himself.

Rico stitched back the sliced skin and waited for Blake to wake up from the anesthetic.


	10. Chapter 10- Natalie

**Chapter 10- Natalie**

-"Wake up sleeping beauty"-Rico said, poking Blake's head with his finger from boredom.

-"I'm awake prince charming..He he"-Blake chuckled, getting up from the bed.

-"I have to admit you were **this** close to breaking your leg, those bullets got in your skin alright, but luckily for you they barely damaged the bone. So that means in other words, you can still walk and do your jobs as usual.-"Rico said calmly, grabbing a cigarette from the counter and lighting it. Just like Blake, Rico too liked the smell and feeling of the Tobacco in his lungs. -"By the way, was it just me or a cop drove you here? I'm even surprised that woman didn't bother getting inside and arresting me."-Rico asked, inhaling the fumes and exhaling them through his nose.

-"She was kind enough to drop me off here, she even gave me my guns back..She didn't even bother confiscating them as evidence, I never saw a cop so sympathetic."-Blake replied, leaning on the counter with his arms crossed.

-"Yeah that's something you don't see every day, I think her name is Kate..Catherine..Something like that, I don't really remember, but I don't think it matters anyway"-Blake replied. -"Besides, she is still going to be my target, after hurting me and humiliating me in front of everyone at the HQ she deserves a lesson.."-Blake added with a determined look in his eye. -"You just gotta know when the target is weak, when it's vulnerable, and then BAM strike her dead! Though I have to admit, she is kinda cute, trying to look all brave in front of me..Oh P-lease no need to fake yourself madam"-He started to mock her, laughing out loud with Rico joining him.

-"Doesn't really matter right? You'll be able to take care of her like you did with Na-

"DON'T you even DARE to say her name Rico..I don't want to remember what happened that day, what happens with her stays with her..And as for that enforcer girl, I just need to find a moment when she is alone, defenseless and scared.. then I could STRIKE!"-Blake interrupted Rico, he just didn't want ANYONE to say that name, the guilt, the regret that happened that night must not happen again.

-"Where's your car by the way?"-Rico asked with curiosity, breathing heavily from Blake's sudden aggressive tone.

-"Back at the port, but it doesn't matter anyway.. That old piece of junk is no use to me anymore. It's too slow to get to any mission on time, not worth my time to get it back."-Blake sighed.

-"That sucks dude..What are you gonna do now?"-Rico asked

-"I'll do what I always do to get money-rob,kill,steal and do more missions until I get enough money for the car..also I need to pay the rent soon so the car isn't the only thing that needs money here. Well..thanks for the treatment Ricz, I can't really pay you now but once I do get enough I'll pay the full price."

-"Nah, it's okay dude I got your back.. do you need a ride home by any chance? my shift is over and I need to rest.."-Rico asked Blake when he started to pack his stuff.

-"I'll just walk home, sure my leg hurts but I've been through worse..it was luck that made me walk tonight so I'll celebrate by walking."-Blake said with a calm tone, he got out of the small clinic and started to walk towards the financial area.

Meanwhile, Katy was driving towards the SPPD. She suddenly received a message from Jessie in the police radio.

-"The coast is clear, did you deliver the items?"

"Yes, they are now in good hands, are you guys okay over there?"-Katy replied with a worried tone while driving towards the station.

-"Yeah..a big part of those scrubs got killed, arrested and some just gave in or ran away like a bunch of cowards..we did lose 2 of our members during the gun fight due to blood loss...and well basically death by lead bullets. I also heard some gun shots from where you left to, was everything okay back there?"-Jessie said to Katy, while going with the remaining team that managed to deal with the injuries.

-"Yep, the usual. Some random guy with a machine gun attacked while I was taking the evidence to the police car. He has been stopped and I'm on my way to deliver them to the SPPD."-Katy smiled, looking at the evidence pieces on the front seat. She felt proud, thanks to her the remaining criminals will be sent to justice with the evidence as proof.

-"Did you arrest that maniac?"-Jessie laughed.

-"Nah I let him out with a warning, he looked more like a scared child than an actual Bloodrose member."-Katy replied. -"He didn't seem like much of a threat anyway."-She added.

-"Well goodnight, I'm heading home with the other guys."-Jessie said, leaving the signal and heading home.

Katy got inside, going to the evidence locker and placing the evidence she got from the mission in a small basket labeled- TBI=To Be Investigated. Since the evidence hasn't been checked by the forensics team it's left there until they will be able to. She walked around the station, seeing that most of the enforcers left and the remaining worked in the office area. Suddenly she saw the bulletin board, showing this month's memorial for enforcer who died. Each enforcer had a different year bellow their photo, but one caught Katy's eye.

NAME- NATALIE HUNT

OCCUPATION- FORMER SPY

DIED AT- 17.9.10

CAUSE OF DEATH-DECAPITATION + POISONING

CULPRIT-JOE MOORE (UNSOLVED)

-"Unsolved?"-Katy said quietly.

-"JOE MOORE was accused of decapitating NATALIE but it's still unclear who did it."-She read the text bellow Natalie's image, wondering who's this Joe the memorial photo mentioned. She went to the suspect listing room, where all the names and photos of arrested criminals are sent to and kept in a wide selection of folders. After searching around, she finally found Joe's folder.

-"Accused of murder, theft, arson, car theft, rape, robbery. Wow this person sure did a lot of crimes, no wonder he's locked up. Located at the San Paro Maximum Security Prison, release date= 21.8.25. Woah this guy has a lot of time left."-She said to herself, looking at Joe's folder curiously. -"Maybe I should see If I can get any answers from him"-She added, placing the folder back to its location and heading to the reception phone. She called the SPMSP quarters to see if she can visit Joe and ask him a few questions.

-"You may visit him, but only for 30 minutes, lights are out soon. This is for investigation purposes?"-The man at the phone asked Katy.

-"Yes, I want to know what he did in full detail"-She replied. Once receiving the positive answer, she went to her car and drove there.

She arrived. greeted by the guards and checked before getting into the visiting room to speak with Joe. One of the guards let Joe in from the other side of the glass panel, Joe taking a seat and the guard standing beside the door.

-"Who are you and what do you want from me?"-Joe asked with a frown, he wasn't the friendly type nor the guy who likes to speak to enforcers that much.

-"I came here to find out about your case with Natalie Hunt, is it true that you killed her?"-Katy asked.

"I didn't. You idiot cops thought I did, my so called friend did it and blamed it on me! He framed me so he could be free for a few extra years.."-Joe angered, looking at Katy with a serious expression on his face.

-"Who is that friend of yours?"-She asked, taking a small notepad from her pocket and writing down the details.

-"His name was Blake Price. A machine gunner with the ego and enthusiasm of a top star celebrity, but trust me he isn't even close to one. A lousy mid-rank like him will never touch the floor of the high ranked luxury."-Joe answered.

-"Did he happen to have a scar on his left eye, blue spiky hair and bright purple eyes?"-She asked, wondering if Joe's friend was actually the man she met in the abandoned highway and on the port.

-"As a matter of fact, yeah, he does. Let me guess, he's still out there eh? Pssh I thought he killed himself already, what a shame."-Joe smirked. -"So I guess you also want to know what happened that night too?"-He asked her. She nodded and waited for him to begin telling what really happened.

-"Hmm..yeah I remember what happened that day. Blake and Natalie were together officially and everyone in the criminal gangs knew it, according to her fake ID she was one of the most well known criminals at the time, the actual person however..she is probably dead or in prison for life. I don't quite remember if it was Blake who first hit on her or Natalie did, but whatever. A few days before her murder Byron told Blake that he found out she was a spy, and he had a choice- whether Byron will kill her or he will do it instead and as you might guess he chose to end her life. You should have seen him that day, he was so angry and confused but he also knew what fate his girlfriend will have. On the night of the murder the two love birds went to a local restaurant for a simple date, when Natalie went to the bathroom Blake poured a small dose of Cyanide to her drink- not too big to kill but the effect would take more time. I was near the scene of the crime, so I've seen everything.. I'm not making anything up. When she came back she drank from her glass and didn't feel anything, after eating they left to the port areas of Waterfront, to look at the ocean. When Natalie looked at the beautiful night sky Blake took out a pistol from his back pocket, she saw his movement but when she tried to turn around...she got shot in the back of her head, killing her instantly. When she fell down on the ground Blake started to chop off some of her body parts and threw them into the sea, so no evidence will be ever found..the rest i didn't get to see because I hid most of the time, I couldn't get a risk getting caught by that monster..Though the Cyanide wasn't really necessary to finish Natalie off, from what I know Blake like to 'play with his food' before it dies. In the next morning the enforcers found her remains, but they didn't arrest Blake..oh no they arrested ME!"- As Joe was speaking he got closer to the glass, he started to shout out loud.

-"THAT SCUM BLAMED ME, HE LEFT ME HERE TO ROT AND THE POLICE DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO ASK...NOTHING..I AM STUCK HERE FOR 15 YEARS BECAUSE OF HIM..HE DESERVES TO DIE!"-Joe started to go insane, the guards took him from his seat and told Katy to go home-the visiting time was over.


	11. Chapter 11-Let's see it burn

**Chapter 11- Let's see it burn**

-"Well that was creepy as hell..But at least I got to know more about that weirdo"-Katy thought to herself as the guards escorted her out of the visiting area to the exit. -"Next time he won't be so lucky, his past doesn't scare me"-She added, getting in her car and driving back home. Katy had a lot of self confidence and determination in killing and catching criminals, it was her father's job and she wanted to be just like him when she was a little girl. Despite her acts of courage she had moments in her life when she just broke down, couldn't face the situation and even cried from stress and worry. But those weak spots she tends to hide from criminals and even her own co-workers, she denies her fear in many cases.

Blake noticed Katy's car once more as he walked home slightly limping, he frowned, taking a small pebble from the sidewalk and threw it. The pebble hit the back of the car, leaving a minor scratch as the car passed Blake. -"That bitch will pay for hurting me..I don't care for her sympathy, she needs to learn a lesson"-He said to himself, continuing to walk. -"Ugh I wish I had some cash on me, if only I didn't spend all of it on food.."-He added, seeing numerous cabs passing him, he felt weak but he had no other choice but to walk by foot. After a while he finally got back home, exhausted with only one thing on his mind-Sleep. He opened the door and closed it once getting inside, limping to his bedroom and throwing himself to the mattress. He felt great pain in his upper body and legs once coming into contact with his bed, but he had to deal with it for the rest of the night. Once taking a few deep breathes and tossing around he finally fell into deep sleep.

Katy parked her car next to the apartment building she lived in and took the elevator to her apartment. Upon getting in, her gray cat nicknamed Mr. Fluff greeted her with a soft purr, it meowed and followed Katy's steps as she moved around. Her apartment wasn't any fancier than Blake's, the same size but not the same environment. It was a basic bachelor apartment with only 1 bedroom, a small kitchen and a medium sized living room. She removed her work vest and hanged it on her door, taking off her shoes and heading to take a warm bath before bed.

5:00 AM-Blake's place

Blake woke up, hearing his phone vibrating and beeping. He got up and picked up the phone, it was Strega Bloodrose.

-"Sorry for the late call, but I'm here to tell you that you'll only be getting half of what you should've earned. I've heard that you almost got arrested, and you didn't kill the target, so the only sum I could give you is around 100 dollars."-She said to Blake through the phone.

-"WHAT?! No..You gotta be kidding! This isn't enough for my bills! How the hell will I pay my rent?!"-He shouted, angered at the outrageous sum of money.

-"It's your fault, not mine. Don't blame me for your failure, next time try harder- You think high ranks give up?! No! Then stop acting like a helpless person, you're mid rank and you can always get the money back."-She angered, hanging up the call. Blake threw his phone on the wall and started to yell loudly. -"For fucks sake..."-He then calmed down, picking up his phone and seeing the screen shattered. A message popped up shortly after the call, giving Blake another mission to do. Even at this early, criminals would rather get money than rest.

-"Burn targets on the following streets"-After the message a list of 5 different locations came up, each in separate areas of the city, mostly the downtown district. Blake sighed, getting up and wiping his face, he was still tired but it's either sleep or house eviction, you can guess which option he took. He went to kitchen and brewed himself some coffee, feeling a little dizzy from his lack of sleep. He added a few extra spoons of coffee with no sugar, adding heated water and mixing the raw coffee powder with a plastic spoon. He reached to the freezer to see if there are any remaining ice-cubes, in cases where he forgets to fill water into the ice tray he just scratches the ice off the shelves and uses it to cool his beverages. It may sound disgusting and weird but he does this almost all the time. The coffee didn't cool as much as he expected it to, so he just tried to gulp all of it quickly. Usually arson missions are done before sunrise, so timing is key. He felt a slight headache but chose to ignore it. He reloaded his ALIG and strapped it on his back, with a pistol in his pocket just in case. -"How the fuck will I get there on time.."-He asked himself, leaving the apartment and going downstairs.

A black van waited for him in the parking lot, 4 other men inside armed with weapons and a few bottles of gasoline to make sure the target stays burnt until nothing is left. One of them was a high ranked criminal, the other men kept looking at him and whispering about the fact that he's here- in a usually mid ranked mission. It's considered absurd for a high ranked criminal to partake in such a cheap tasks, not to mention they must be saved for more dangerous missions since they have the most experience on the battlefield. He ignored the random sayings about him, he liked doing his job regardless of which rank the mission is. Blake was surprised to see a van waiting for him, he got in and received a handshake from the mysterious high ranked criminal. -"I'm Blake, you?"-He asked the man.

-".."-The man didn't say a word, he barely spoke and didn't want anyone to know his name.

-"It's best if you don't ask, he won't answer"-One criminal added, he closed the door and signaled the van driver to start driving. As the van moved one of the criminals presented a map of the city with 5 markings, their arson targets. Blake took a gander at the map, he felt his head pounding heavily as the van tossed him around. **God I feel like I'm gonna vomit-** He said to himself, seeing the other men looking carefully at the map.

-"You"-One of the men pointed at Blake. -"You'll get dropped off here, once you get there you take this gasoline bottle and a lighter and- Wait..I don't think I need to remind you what to do with those things right?"-He asked Blake. He nodded in response. -"Good, you'll be after this hotshot here."-He added. -"Just because he's high rank doesn't mean he gets special treatment at missions, he decided to come here..And he gets the same tasks as we do."- The criminal looked at the high ranked man with a frown.

-"Wait, are you gonna come back and pick me up once I'm done?"-Blake asked the driver

-"Pff, seriously? Nah. You just either find a cab or get out of there with no evidence left, you don't wanna get caught do you?"-The driver answered. One of the men whispered something to him. -"Oh yeah I almost forgot you were one of those guys. I bet it was fucking expensive to afford _that_ kind of service?"-The driver turned around for a second to look at Blake.

-"It wasn't cheap, but it'll keep me safe"-Blake replied with a calm tone. Not many criminals could afford the type of service he purchased, a service that guaranteed protection.

-"Don't be so sure kid, I had a friend who worked here for 10 years. One day he didn't even notice, and bam..Got caught by the SPPD because he didn't pay attention, now he's sitting in prison for 20 years with little chance of parole"-The high ranked criminal noted Blake.

Blake sighed, noticing the van slowly stopping at his drop off point. It was a small abandoned building located near the poor district, he raised his brow upon seeing the odd location. -"Why am I being sent here? This place is almost empty"-Blake asked, opening the van door and scouting the area with his eyes.

-"You need to first of all get in that building and pour the gasoline from the inside. The cops will probably think it was an accident or something, these kind of buildings often hide explosives that can blow up any minute"-One of the men replied to Blake. -"Once you done pouring it around, get outta there and throw a match to ignite it"-The man added. -"This building has some criminal intel left from the early 2000's, nobody touched it because barely anyone knew of it's existence. If it gets to the wrong hands the cops can find out the basics of our foundations and will try to get us from the inside. Just to make sure nothing is left, you need to pour as much gasoline as you can. With a small area for you to escape of course"-The man said, giving Blake the gasoline and a pack of matches to do the job. He then pushed him slightly out of the van, so Blake could start the job and the van could move to the next target.

Blake got off the van, putting the bottle of gasoline on the side so he could place the small pack of matches in his pocket, then grabbing the slightly heavy bottle and walking inside. The building was surrounded by a wire fence, with a sign saying "PRIVATE PROPERTY, ENTRY IS PHORHIBITED"- The sign was covered in graffiti and bullet holes. Blake got inside by crawling under a broken area of the fence, he grunted once feeling the wire cutting his arms and legs slightly. He ignored the scratches on his clothes and moved inside, the door was full of bullet holes and planks covering most of it. Blake kicked it open and the door fell down, revealing boxes and old computers covered in black cloths inside. A sense of intrigue flowed through his mind as he explored the area, the two floors of the building had many kinds of furniture and documents scattered around. Blake placed the gasoline bottle on one of the dusty desks, he pulled a small document from the drawer under the desk. It contained exact detailed plans of the Bloodroses on how to take over San Paro with the help of their rivaling gang the G-kings. **Damn, no wonder I got sent here, this is some important shit-** He said to himself, continuing to read a few more files before taking the bottle and pouring the gasoline on the floor.

He made a trail of gasoline from the first to the second floor till the entrance area, stepping back from the building and lighting a match. He took a gander at it for a few seconds before throwing it on the ground, as it fell down the fire ignited and burned everything in its path. Before fleeing he decided to look at the building getting burned into the ground while standing a few meters away from it. The flames glowed in his purple eyes, he smirked upon seeing the smoke and flames reaching higher levels.

-"I could stare at this all day.."-He said to himself quietly. -"But sadly I can't stay here for too long"-He added, turning his back and fleeing from the site. Once getting away from the crime scene he started to calmly walk back to the HQ by foot, it was still early in the morning and barely anyone was still awake in the neighborhood at the time to notice the sudden fire.

After strolling the city back to the HQ, Byron met him at the entrance, he was covered in confetti and in alcohol.

-"Such a shame you missed the party Blake, there were some beautiful chicks asking for you"-Byron teased him, he knew that Blake was too busy to attend it, yet still mentioned the party to piss him off a little.

-"Well, once those girls find out what I did in the past they would probably run away and call me a heartless bastard."-Blake sighed, leaning on the entrance door. -"You got a smoke on you and a light by any chance? I think I forgot mine at home"-He asked Byron, checking his pockets only to find a pistol with an extra magazine, his phone, keys and his wallet-empty as always.

-"Yeah here, I got some for ya"-Byron smirked, taking out a cigarette and a lighter from his front pockets, giving the cigarette to Blake and lit it once he put it in his mouth. Blake inhaled the fumes and exhaled them calmly.

-"Thanks, that's just what I needed.."-Blake replied, stretching himself and cleaning the traces of ash and smoke from his shoulders. -"The usual arson missions, always mess up your clothes no matter what"-Blake added, showing Byron the cuts from the wire fence on his clothes.

-"Did you get rid of her? I heard that enforcer girl from the previous mission was at the docks"-Byron asked him, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it to smoke.

-"She nearly arrested me. But then for no damn reason instead of sending me to the SPPD she just pulled over at Rico's place and gave back all of the stuff she confiscated from me. I have no clue why she did it, maybe I caught her in a good mood last night, either way I'll still kill her when the time comes"-Blake replied, throwing the cigarette on the pavement and stepping on it with his shoe.

-"When the time comes? Why don't you just finish her off and that's it? Are you the same Blake from 7 years ago? ..Don't tell me you gained some kind of sympathy to that cop, if so then you're a lost cause.."-Byron asked.

-"I don't know jack shit about her, what makes you think I can just barge in and kill her? I wish I could but I barely even know her name. And no, why would I show any kind of sympathy for the same people who killed my friends in the past and broke my heart? The only thing the cops deserve is a bullet to the head.."-Blake replied angrily. -"Natalie taught me the best, never trust a cop, never love one and never negotiate with one"-He added, looking down and having a flashback of what he did to Natalie that night 3 years ago.

-"Very well, just do whatever you can to kill her. Once you do it successfully I will consider to promote you a little, of course if you can impress me. If you're serious about killing her, _prove it to me._ "-Byron replied, smirking at Blake and walking back in the HQ. -"Oh and another thing, your payment for the arson mission has been added to your account."-Byron added before closing the door. Blake smiled upon hearing about the payment, hoping that he'll get enough to pay the rest and supply himself with better food. He walked to an ATM behind the HQ, unlike other ATMs scattered around San Paro, this one was specific for Bloodrose members. Every criminal who joins on the first day receives a bank account depending on his or her gang, only the G kings and the Bloodroses actually own their own bank and vaults for their members. Once a criminal completes or fails a mission, the money is transferred to his or her account and the criminal can withdraw money at any given moment. Of course this is one of the only ATMs criminals can use, the rest won't work with criminal ID cards.

Blake took out his criminal card and passed it through the scanning area, after a few seconds the ATM recognized Blake's card and gave him the option to view or withdraw the money from his account:

 ** _CURRENTLY IN VAULT: 1000$_**

 ** _WITHDRAWL OPTIONS:_**

 ** _-WITHDRAW 5$_**

 ** _-WITHDRAW 50$_**

 ** _-WITHDRAW 100$_**

 ** _-WITHDRAW 200$_**

 ** _-WITHDRAW 1000$_**

-"Holy shit, 1000 bucks?! Well then..I didn't expect that much from that arson..I guess those files were really _that_ important...Let me view history quickly"-Blake tapped on the View History button, it showed each crime committed with the sum of money given on the side. He scrolled down with his finger until he found the current arson mission.

 ** _\- ARSON: 1000$ GIVEN BY STREGA B._**

-"How generous of her..Unless that was the actual award money.."-He thought to himself. -"I'll just withdraw 50$ for now, take a cab home..Unless I have anything else to do"-Before withdrawing the money he pulled out his phone to check for any messages about missions, or any missed calls.

 ** _(0)- NO NEW MESSAGES_**

-"Thank god, now I can go back to sleep once I come home"-He smiled, putting his phone back to his pocket and withdrawing 50$ from the ATM. Obviously that sum isn't just for a cab, he decided to keep the rest to buy some food and drinks when he can. -"There's a gas station not too far from here, maybe I should buy some food first.."-He said to himself, looking at the road and seeing a gas station not too far from where he was standing.


	12. Chapter 12-Not so fortunate

**Chapter 12-Not so fortunate**

Blake walked to the gas station with his hands inside his pockets and an ALIG strapped on his back. He heard a few sirens in the distance and sighed. -"It's been a while since I heard a police siren this early in the morning.."-He said to himself, smirking slightly. Upon entering the gas station Blake took a turn to the mini mart to get something to eat, he got greeted by the clerk, a young man with a newspaper covering his face.

-"Welcome to the mini mart"-He said, moving to the next page with his finger. As Blake walked around the isles the clerk took a gander at him, he shook from seeing the ALIG attached to his back. Blake ignored the clerk's staring and took a few groceries from the shelves, holding them with his right arm. Once he got everything he needed he walked back to the clerk to pay for his purchase.

-"Look I don't want any trouble, if you want the money go ahead and take it..I swear I won't call the cops!"-The clerk shook with fear once more, dropping the newspaper and rushing to get some bills out of the cash register.

-"I just came here for the food, I don't need you damn money"-Blake sighed, placing the groceries on the clerk's table. He started to feel a little dizzy, the need to sleep kicked in and he nearly slipped once seeing the entire store move around him.

-"A-are you okay sir?"-The clerk worried, passing the groceries through the scanner, noticing Blake's dizziness.-"I could order you a cab if you'd like, you don't look so good to walk home sir"-The clerk added, helping him get up.

-"That would be great, thanks"-Blake said, getting up and holding his head from the dizziness. -"I'm just really tired you know? I barely had any sleep"-Blake added.

-"It's alright, I'll call a cab to pick you up from here, it shouldn't take long"-The clerk replied, taking out his phone and calling a taxi service. Blake felt relieved that the guy didn't panic instantly and called the cops, not to mention it was rare for a simple civilian to help a criminal in any kind of situation.

Several minutes passed, Blake paid for the food and leaned on the register, waiting for the taxi to show up. As the minutes passed he felt his head pounding from lack of sleep, those minutes felt like long agonizing hours that didn't seem to end.

-"How long do I have to wait...I feel like I'm gonna pass out any minute"-He whispered to himself, looking at the clerk reading the newspaper again. Blake saw the front page and noticed the big title:"G king attempted to run over government official". G-kings, the kings of the road, loved to use their cars and vans to run over cops and innocent people for the heck of it, though their targets are usually politicians. Unlike the money loving Bloodroses, the G-kings cared more about cars and car parts of many sorts, rumors say that they are currently holding the largest stash of stolen cars and car parts.

Blake looked at the window and saw the taxi from the distance. -"About damn time"-He said, getting off the register and picking up his groceries with a plastic bag.

-"Thanks for shopping at the mini mart, please come again"-The clerk added, turning another page on the newspaper. -"No need to thank me, even criminals deserve a little help"-The clerk added as he continued to read through the newspaper, Blake smiled as he heard the clerk, walking out of the mini mart and to the taxi outside.

-"Took you long enough"-Blake said.

-"Ahem..No weapons inside the car, put them in the trunk"-The driver opened the window and noted him.

-"How come?"-Blake said, slightly angry.

-"New policy rules, you think I'm that dumb to let a criminal sit next to me with a gun? This cab doesn't move 'till all of your fire arms are in the trunk. Don't try and fool me as well, I won't hesitate to hurt you back. Now put those guns of yours back in the trunk or I'll just leave you here"-The driver answered, locking the car doors, not letting him in until all of his guns are in the trunk.

-"Fine, fine..Jesus"-Blake frowned, walking to the back of the cab and placing the pistol and ALIG in the trunk. -"Fucking policies..Can't I just take a cab without this bullcrap?"-He added.

-"I heard that. You better shut your mouth before I drive away from here"-The driver replied by yelling at Blake.

Blake sighed, closing the trunk and sitting in the back. -"To Canal street, make it snappy"-The driver nodded upon Blake's request and began to drive to the location. He kept looking at Blake's sitting position and frowning, he hated it when people sit like that in the back, like some uncivilized monster.

-"Do you _have_ to sit like that?"-The driver asked, frowning at Blake.

-"I don't tell you how to drive, don't tell me how to sit"-Blake angered, flipping the driver off with his finger and relaxing in the back of the cab, grunting as he turned his head around. He felt his neck snapping slightly as his head moved, stretching the rest of his body and hearing more snapping noises.

-"We're here, that'll be 15 dollars"-The driver said, stopping at Blake's destination.

-"15?! What's with the high number?"-Blake replied, raising his brow.

-"Criminals pay extra now, also part of the new policy. Don't like it, don't use our services, plus your annoying behavior pisses me off"-The driver replied, reaching his hand to Blake to receive the money. Blake sighed, taking 15 dollars from his wallet and giving it to the driver, leaving the cab and walking to the apartment building.

 **10:00 AM- SAN PARO POLICE DEPARTMENT**

Katy reported to work, noticing that as soon as the station opened to the public people started to rush in. Typical day in the SPPD, citizens come in daily to report in sights of criminal activity to make sure those crooks stay behind bars for a change. She had a struggle moving to her office as many started to push between the lines and the station quickly became cramped. Before finally getting a chance to sit down, Jessie called her from the other side of the station, she was standing next to the break room with a cup of water in her hands.

-"These criminals never stop popping up on the radar lately, those lines are the proof"-Jessie said once she greeted Katy with a smile. -"But hey, more criminals mean more jobs for us, so I'm not complaining"-Jessie added, smirking and sipping some water.

-"They deserve it, if they don't want to get caught and killed they shouldn't have joined a gang in the first place."-Katy replied.

-"Yep. It's a shame you didn't kill that guy from last night, it would have got you some extra money in your pocket"

-"Like always, he was weak, unable to realize that this is the real deal. Next time I won't be so merciful to him, even I have my limits to sympathy."-She angered, looking down with her arms crossed.

-"Well next time you could either arrest him and get a little extra cash out of it, or just end his life on the spot during a mission. It's not like criminals really have anything to live for except for money."-Jessie chuckled, Katy looked at her and smiled upon hearing her words. She then waved Jessie goodbye and left.

Katy decided to check on the bulletin board for any possible side missions she could do before getting called again. Most of the board was covered in "Wanted" posters and other events in the past month, nothing really caught up on her eye.

-"I hoped for something good today, oh well.. I guess this is going to be a rough week"-She muttered, still trying to find some kind of work to do.-"Hmm, I wonder if this guy ever appeared on the Wanted section."-She added, looking at the photos of various criminals still on the loose, none looked like the man she met last night. -"Strange, I always thought the crazy people end up here, no sign of that guy"-She said to herself, wondering how come he wasn't on the Wanted list.

Suddenly, she heard a mission call from the speakers above her, she smiled upon hearing the call. **Finally some work** \- She said to herself, waiting to hear what is it this time.

-"An arson has been reported on the downtown area, report there immediately to investigate the scene."-As soon as Katy fully heard the message she rushed to her car alongside other enforcers going to theirs as well. Sure it wasn't the combat missions Katy is so proud doing , but after all these kinds of tasks always show up.

The enforcers arrived at the scene, later getting reports that the Arson in fact was in multiple areas in the district and not just this one. Katy got out of the car and noticed the completely burnt building, only the basic foundations of it still remained, but in a poor state. She noticed the wired fence surrounding the structure, most of it got slightly bent as it got into contact with the embers. The forensic team took their equipment and went inside to check it out, Katy followed them out of curiosity, seeing how the remaining enforcers covered any possible access points, to make sure the public won't dare to explore it. As she walked in, she noticed how the ground was covered with ashes, almost all of the objects that were inside the building were unrecognizable.

-"Why would someone just burn down this building for no reason, this doesn't look like it had anything important before it got burned down."-She said, looking around and noticing more traces of ashes and scorch marks on the walls.

-"Apparently the locals who live in this neighborhood claim this was an accident, but there are no signs of any specific appliances that would burn this entire building. Could be criminals again, let's hope they left some small traces of DNA somewhere"-One enforcer replied to Katy, covering his hands with white gloves and checking around the first floor. -"Why don't you try visiting the other targets, maybe they need your help over there, for now everything seems safe enough"-The enforcer added, turning around as soon as he finished talking, to make sure he didn't miss any important details.

Katy sighed, she usually preferred a little more action during her missions but it seemed like the seconds passed like hours, nothing unusual- just a regular task for an Enforcer. With no other choice, she drove to the other locations of the arson, hopefully to find something exciting. Once stopping the car near the other location, she noticed how most of the team was already packing and finishing the investigation. She got out of the car and walked to one of the forensic investigators to get some answers.

-"You're done already?!"-She said in a surprised tone, seeing how the rest are already leaving the scene.

-"Yep, we found the needed clues. Some idiot forgot his gun, with his fingerprints on it, the only _interesting_ piece of evidence here. Judging by the looks of the gun, it was most likely a high ranked criminal, I never thought I'd get to see such a dumb move, but it's his problem now"-The forensic enforcer replied, mocking the criminal and even laughing about it a little.

-"So.. Is there _anything_ I need to protect? I got sent here, but I can see nothing is left"-Katy asked, disappointed.

-"Nope, I doubt the rest will need your help. Hate to burst your bubble, but I think they sent you here for no reason really, sure we _expected_ some crazy psycho to stop us on the way, but I guess it's just a simple arson and nothing more."

-"Crap, I guess I'll just go back to the station now. Unless the others need my help?"

-"I doubt it, I guess it was just a false alarm, have a nice day ma'am"-The enforcer tipped his hat gently, walking to his car and driving away.

Katy let out a deep sigh, seeing how everyone left and the only thing surrounding the scene was the bright yellow police tape. With no other choice, she returned to her vehicle and drove back to the SPPD HQ.

-"Just by looking at you I can see you had a shitty job today"-Jessie said, seeing how Katy's brows lowered and her smile gone.

-"Yeah, good guess there. I can't believe I got there for no reason, sure the building looked kinda interesting, but other than that I didn't do anything.."

-"Did they catch someone?"

-"The only thing they caught was a few pieces of evidence, another guy's going to prison this week."

-"One less criminal in the outside world."

-"Wait. Didn't you get sent somewhere today?"

-"I came back a few minutes ago. It was a delivery missions with a little criminal interruption but nothing too serious."-Jessie sighed, cleaning off remaining pieces of rubble off her shoulders.

-"God this is gonna be a dry week. I want to find that guy from before, and get him behind bars before he commits more reckless crimes."

-"You **could** do it solo, but I wouldn't suggest it. It don't matter how much you _think_ you can beat him alone, every criminal has a trick up his sleeve. I ended up losing some good friends, thinking they are such hotshots who can kill anyone in their way..No offence Katy, but both of us know that you can't just go there and beat him by yourself."-Jessie looked at Katy with a serious expression, the last thing she wanted was to lose another friend to a criminal. -"Just be a little careful"-She gave Katy a small pat on the head.

-"I'll go check for some other missions, maybe I'm gonna be lucky this time"- Katy walked to the bulletin board to hopefully find something useful.

Throughout her day Katy successfully finished 5 missions, 3 of them being with criminals and the other two were easy ones. Despite her 3 encounters with a random bunch of crooks, the same man she met before wasn't present there. 5 Might sound like a small number, but in fact, it's a very average amount of missions an enforcer might get per day. Each lasting from one hour to even three or four depending on the situation. It's pretty much a similar system to the criminal's way, however, Enforcers get paid the same wage and not a random number like most criminals earn per day.

Meanwhile, Blake was about to finish helping some of his teammates in delivering some illegal goods from the port, a new shipment arrived and as always, someone needs to pick it up. It wasn't as easy as it might seem, the goods were heavy and very fragile, if a Bloodrose ends up having butter fingers, he'll pay for the broken item with his own salary.

-"How much we getting for 'dis again?"-One of them asked, lifting a huge box and loading it into a truck.

-"I'd say about 100 dollars per box, unless one of you scrubs will break it"-Blake said, mocking his team and teasing them a little. Typical Blake behavior.

-"Oi fuck that, if one of 'em breaks I ain't paying for it. I gots more important stuff to spend 'dis money on"

-"On what? Hookers and beer?"-Blake laughed, the rest followed his laughter as they finished placing the remaining boxes in the truck.

-"Shut up asshole, ye acting like everything was served on a goddamn silver platter for ya, even if that's not true. Not by one bit it ain't. Ye were born as poor as anyone here, and ye still act like life is a goddamn fairy tale"

-"Or instead of getting angry like a little kid, learn to take a goddamn joke for once"-Blake continued to mock his teammate.-"Don't make me put a bullet between that empty shell you call a head"- Blake stepped forward and aimed a pistol on the man's head.

-"Is that the best you got? I've met children who are scarier than you!"-He mocked Blake back.

-"Hey stop fighting you two, we gotta deliver these goods. I hope you idiots didn't forget about it"-Another teammate interrupted the two, separating them from each other and shoving them to finish with the job.

Minutes after the team finished with the final touches, they headed back to the HQ and parked the truck in the underground parking lot.

-"I hope you didn't leave even a single scratch on what's inside"-Byron looked at the team of criminals and frowned lightly.

-"If anything does, I'm sure Blake will gladly volunteer to pay it back with his own paycheck"-The man from before stepped ahead.

-"Rodney Nelson, I thought you died yesterday"-Byron examined the man who stood in front of him.

-"Shoot. I pretended to die to make sure the cops wouldn't arrest me, I _almost_ got caught last time too"-Rodney added.

-"Gee I wonder why"-Blake grunted, letting out a small laugh. -"He's weak as a stick, no cop would spend his energy on this little damsel in distress"-He added.

-"Now now Blake. I have to admit Rodney had his point back there, I'm sure _you_ want to pay for any damages I'll find on the goods. And to think I considered promoting you, so much you need to learn.."-Byron smirked. -"Just to be sure that your lesson is learned, I'll be taking 100$ from your criminal account whether you like it or not. I hope you understand why I'm doing this."

-"B-But you don't even know if the goods are broken, what if they are fine?!"

-"Doesn't matter. Your money belongs to me one way or another when you think about it. Luckily for you, your paycheck is unaffected this time, but next time I won't be so merciful. We're criminals sure, but we still need to know basic manners now do we?"-Byron added, leaving the scene with the 100$ bill moving in his fingers.


	13. Chapter 13-Criminal lessons

**Chapter 13-Criminal lessons**

-"I hope you learned your lesson, keep your head down and everything will be alright for 'ya. 7 Years in the job and you keep forgetting your _real_ place, I don' think you even deserve your fancy mid-rank title."-Rodney gave Blake a mocking piece of advice, if there's anything he liked to do- is to piss off other criminals for their own flaws.

Rodney wasn't any different than Blake in terms of ranks, just by a slight difference in numbers, nor by his attitude towards others. Both believe they are good enough, despite having big flaws around them. The only difference was Rodney's joining date, he only joined around 2 years ago, yet he already knows most of Blake's past actions-the stories spread like wildfire.

-"Don't act like you're any better either.."-Blake muttered.

-"At least _I_ didn't get a 100$ penalty like **you** did, good luck getting that money back"-Rodney mocked Blake again, showing no kind of respect by spitting next to Blake's shoes. -"Here, I made 'ya some dinner"-Rodney chuckled gruffly.

Blake didn't respond, he just stood there with his brows lowered and his eyes staring at Rodney, seeing how he was leaving the area after spitting on the ground. Rodney, like many other criminals Blake met in his career, can act in a very brutal and a malicious way towards others with no sympathy. Of course if killing teammates wasn't against the rules of the gang, he would gladly do it to those same crooks. To criminals, violence is _always_ the solution.

Instead of pulling out a pistol and getting this whole mess over with, he just left the HQ and took another annoyingly expensive cab, policy rules and all. With many other strict rules being placed on criminals for using public services, life as an average low to mid ranked criminal is very hard in San Paro. But with all the difficulties, it can still be enjoyable if there's enough money, no wonder why high ranked criminals are happier. Money may not buy happiness for everyone, but it does the trick for the richest crooks in the city.

He obviously wanted some kind of revenge, but at the same time the consequences could lead him to getting in serious trouble with Rodney's little friends. He didn't know what kind of friends Rodney might have, they could be high ranked bad boys looking to punch anything with a face on it.-"That asshole will pay for what he did..."-Blake frowned, walking upstairs to his apartment. The building as usual, was full of loud noises coming from neighboring doors- you can't expect silence in a place like that. He wished that he could make them shut up so he could think straight, he had to find a way to hurt Rodney in a way that won't risk his life. -"What if I...No, too risky. Maybe I could, no wait..Impossible without getting caught"-He kept thinking of a way, any way possible to hurt his enemy, it flew through his head the closer he got to the door.

Upon opening the door, a disgusting smell came from the kitchen. -"Probably something's rotten again.."-Blake said to himself, covering his nose with his arm the closer he got to the smell's source. Turns out that the smell in fact came from the trashcan and not from the fridge, he tends to forget to take care of the house, committing crimes is a bigger priority than cleaning up after himself. He sighed, too tired to go downstairs again, he placed the trash bag on his doorstep and locked the door after himself.

It was getting darker, the sun slowly began to set and the city lights started to show their light in Blake's window, he sighed and covered it with the drapes, taking a seat on the old couch. The first thing he did once sitting down is checking for messages, to make sure he doesn't have to get up for later. -"Huh, nothing..That's new"-He scratched his head, rolled his eyes and carelessly threw the phone on the other side of the couch. The only thing he wanted to do now is get some sleep for once, who knows when's the next call gonna happen. He gently lowered his head to the side, hoping to get some shut eye.

Only after 2 peaceful hours, a vibration came from his phone, another mission to do. -"Just when I thought this day was gettin' better"-He opened his eyes, couldn't go back to sleep from the irritating vibration. -"Let's see what is it this time.."-He added, stretching his arms and seeing who is it.

-"Sorry if I 'woke' you up, but you got another job to do and this time it's a little different. I got some folks who forget to pay back my loan.-"He knew who it was from first glance, Byron was in charge of loans in the Bloodroses, and isn't too happy when his clients don't pay it back. He then swiped down with his finger to see the rest. -"Follow this address and make sure they get the message"-Once receiving the message another popped up, revealing the street name. The address lead to the shopping district of the city, a whole boulevard full of shops and hangout spots.

-"Looks like somebody forgot to pay back.."-Blake sighed, standing up and taking a pistol with him, for self protection. It's common for Byron's clients to lose a few screws and start shooting out of fear, but at the same time, the loan must be paid back anyway. Without a choice, he left immediately, since it wasn't really urgent he walked to the destination instead of spending his cash of those damn cabs again. It was night time, the entire boulevard of the shopping district was crowded with people buying various trinkets and walking around with big plastic bags. Luckily for him, the store he's about to visit was just about to close for the day, the only people inside were the owners, the couple who took the loan from Byron. It was a little hard walking past the people blocking his path, yet with a few pushes and dodges, it didn't take him long before being a few steps away from the shop.

-"Come on Josh let's go home already, nobody's gonna show up at this hour"-A female voice was heard from the store, Blake leaning on the door and listening to the conversation.

-"Hold on, you'll never know when's the costumer's coming, it could be any time now"-Another voice was heard. Blake decided to enter the store at the last minute.

-"You should listen to him, you'd never when a costumer shows up"-Blake smirked, entering the store, moving around the shelves and checking what is this couple selling. From what he could get, they just sell mere San Paro souvenirs for tourists and other small trinkets.

-"Oh crap"-The man mouthed, getting nervous upon figuring out who Blake is and where he came from. -"Is this about the loan?"

-"Obviously, you think I'd spend my time shopping in this store, in the public eye? I may be a criminal, but I'm not stupid"-Blake frowned, walking to the owner, ready to pull a pistol to his face.

-"What loan?"-The woman heard the conversation, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

-"Oh don't tell me you kept this only to yourself..Bra-vo 'Josh', good luck explaining to her where you got the money from too"-Blake smirked and gave a little clap, surprised to see how Josh even dared to keep this thing a secret.

-"I'll explain later dear"-Josh turned his face to her, he felt guilty yet he knew that it was the only option. She was still shocked, her eyes focusing on the pistol sticking out from Blake's pocket.

-"Enough chit-chat, just give me Byron's money and I'll be on my way"-Blake walked stopped the little moment the two seemed to be having.

-"You didn't say anything about a loan"-The woman whispered to Josh

-"I had no choice Alex, the bank didn't give me any money..So I had to turn to the criminals, it's the only way I could pay our rent and bills.."-Josh whispered back, feeling ashamed of his actions, yet it is the only thing he could have done.

-"Ahem.. Perhaps you didn't hear me"-Blake approached the whispering couple, taking out the pistol and revealing it.- "Give. Me. Byron's. Money. Or else."-He angered, didn't have any time to play around with these two.

-"L-Look.. I know I have to pay it today but I just didn't earn enough yet, please give me at least another week"-Josh tried to convince the criminal.

-"I don't decide the loan dues, I only come to take the money back. If you want to extend the load speak to Byron, but I doubt he'd approve it. Trust me, he doesn't like it when people don't pay on time. Do yourself and your female friend here a favor and pay now..You wouldn't want to come back here tomorrow with nothing to sell"-Blake replied, continuing to frown at the worried couple.

-"I can't believe you did this to us.."-Alex whispered to Josh, feeling terrible from discovering about this lie.

-"I didn't have a choice.."-Josh turned his head, looking at his wife with a shamed expression on his face. -"Please.. can't you help us here? can't you convince him to wait?"-He turned back to Blake, hoping for a positive answer.

-"No can do. The only thing I can do now is report about _you_ not paying your loan. You and your girl don't know who you're messing with."

-"W-Wait since when am I part of this?"-Alex panicked.

-"He signed a contract before taking a loan, since you both are the current owners of this store, you're both getting screwed. He used Byron's money to pay for the monthly bills of this place am I right? So, because he didn't pay it back, Byron has the right to take away anything valuable enough from this store to pay back the due. You should be feeling lucky, he sometimes ends up _killing_ the people who forget to pay."-Blake answered, pointing the pistol at Josh and moving it slowly to Alex as he finished talking. -"It's a shame it has to end like this, but it's the only option"-He added.

-"Maybe we should speak to this Byron guy then"-Alex turned her face to Josh.

-"Are you nuts?! Byron will rip me to shreds if he finds out I didn't pay today!"

-"What if you explain to him about this?"

-"I doubt that he'll even give a damn.."- Josh sighed, instead of fully giving up he decided to get to the safe in the store and give Blake whatever sum may be in there.

-"Here, it's not all of it, but that's how much I managed to earn, the rest I'll provide later I promise! I'll contact him tomorrow morning"-Josh said, giving Blake a small package containing the money.

-"If he hunts you down for this, I won't be responsible for your death"-Blake replied, taking the money and heading to the exit. Another mission has been done tonight.

Once getting out of the store he took a turn to the HQ, on the way he dialed up Byron's number to tell him what happened.

-"Did he give you the money?"-Byron asked.

-"Only half, the guy said he'll talk to you tomorrow morning about the rest"-Blake replied, on his way to the HQ with the money in his hands.

-"He better have a good excuse for this.."-Byron muttered. -"Come back to the HQ and deliver what you got, I'll deal with Josh tomorrow"-He added, hanging up as soon as he finished talking.

-"Damn, that Josh guy is screwed"-Blake thought to himself as he headed to the HQ. -"Sucks to be him"-He added, releasing a small chuckle.

He still kept thinking of a way to get vengeance from what Rodney did to him, unfortunately nothing yet. Despite wanting to get some payback he also knew that he had other important matters to take care of, he hasn't forgot about the female cop from before. -"Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be able to kill them both and nobody will notice..Or maybe just let them go with a warning..Hmm"-

-"Yo sleeping beauty, watch where you're going!"-Blake bumped into someone from thinking too much, not focusing on who's walking.

-"Maxwell?"-Blake was surprised to see a familiar face. He him since day one, it's been a while since they got to meet as both had different jobs as criminals.

-"If it isn't Blake Price the mad machine gunner? Damn..Been a while huh?"-Maxwell chuckled, shaking Blake's hand.

-"The one and only. How's it going? Being a high rank must be awesome huh?"-Blake asked. Maxwell used to be a simple criminal, until he proved himself worthy to be one of the top criminals of the Bloodroses.

-"Good, good. Hard work but the money is worth it"-Maxwell smirked, revealing to Blake his car, it was parked right next to the HQ.

-"DAMN that's your ride? How many jobs did you do for that beauty?"

-"Around 7, when you're my rank..Getting this kind of car is a piece of cake"-Maxwell smirked, acting like a showoff but Blake didn't even care, he was staring at the car like a dog looking at his owner's plate.

-"Heh. You can't stop staring at my ride eh? Maybe one day I could give it to you once it gets too old for me to use, but for now I'll keep it."-Maxwell laughed at Blake's curiosity over his car. -"What are you doing here anyway?"

-"Delivering loan money, the usual"

-" 'Used to do that myself, until I got this promotion , been 7 years and you're still a mid-rank? Damn Blake"-Maxwell started to slightly mock him, though it was just for the laughs.

-"Slow progress is all what I'm about, you know me"-Blake replied, letting out a laugh.

-"Well I'm gonna go inside, check for any missions, you coming in too?"-Maxwell pointed at the door, waiting for a response.

-"Yeah, I need to deliver this to Byron, once I'm done with that I gotta get some sleep..I only slept for 2 hours"-He said, yawning.

-"After you"-Maxwell held the door for his old friend, following him inside.

Unlike Blake, Maxwell was actually much older, he was 10 years older than him in fact. Maxwell was one of the first criminals who joined the Bloodroses when they slowly gained power in San Paro, he first joined back in 1994. Of course getting to where he's at today, he had to work hard and prove himself worthy enough to become a high ranked criminal, and he did only after 5 years of being a Bloodrose member. The two met at the day Blake first joined, at the time Maxwell used to be a guide for new recruits- a side job that he took to earn some extra cash.

-"So what are you gonna do about Josh?"-Blake asked Byron ,giving him the money package.

-"I'll see what he has to say tomorrow, if he's just trying to fuck with me I'll make sure his store will burn..Stealing 100k from me and not giving it back makes me a little..Uneasy"-Byron frowned, he didn't like it when people don't pay back.

Loans from criminal gangs is something that many citizens do to survive, when the banks decide to stop providing them with the cash they need. However, it comes with a price. If the person hasn't returned the sum of money by the end of the given time, the criminal has the right to rob anything valuable enough from his or her private belongings. When somebody loans from a criminal gang, he or she sign a contract, and once signing it, their money is given but must be returned by due or else. Not to mention if it's a business building funded by criminal money, the contract states that when the loan isn't paid due- the criminal giving the loan has a right to do whatever he wishes with the building. Not a smart move to do, yet some not so fortunate citizens have no choice but to take a loan from such a risky source.

Since his job is done, Blake left the HQ, heading back home just like he always does. On the way home he continued to think of a way to teach Rodney a lesson he'll never forget, if he wants to kill him, he has to do some planning first. Luckily the long walk back gave him enough time to slowly build a plan to make sure nobody knows Rodney is killed by him, to make it look like he died in a mission instead. Downside is, he doesn't know where Rodney goes to or where he lives.

Rodney was taking a casual stroll with a shotgun on his shoulders, scanning the area for any good stores to rob tonight. Some were still open, but too crowded- too many witnesses. Luckily for him, one was isolated from the rest, an electronics store just about to close its doors to the public. -"Too easy"-He smirked, loading the shotgun and approaching the store, ready to fire if it will be necessary to.

Blake noticed Rodney, he wasn't too from him, instead of attacking he decided to hide for now and see what he's up to. -"No point of killing him now, I'll do it when he's least expectin' it"-Blake said to himself, taking cover behind a brick wall.

The store clerk noticed the criminal approaching him with a sinister smirk on his face. -"L-Look I don't want no trouble, you want money yes? Take all of it! Just don't hurt me!"-"Sorry but I don't believe in mercy"-Rodney replied, shooting the man on sight, the impact threw the body towards the wall. -"Now where was I? Oh yeah..Now I see"-Rodney whispered, turning his head and seeing the cash register still open inside the store.

Blake took a peek and was left speechless. -"Holy fucking shit"- He mouthed, he never saw Rodney so..Cruel. He then sighed, taking out the pistol from before out of his pocket. -"This should do the job"-.

-"Now this is what I call a profit!"-Rodney smiled, seeing some valuable electronics, their worth can double if you sell it to the right people. -"I don' have to obey those assholes anymore, with the money I get from these stores, I'll be swimmin' in cash!"-He added, taking the money from the cash register, then pulling out his phone to call for a pickup.

This is it. He won't notice Blake's silent approach, before it's too late. He took small steps, slowly getting close enough to have a direct shot. -"I can't let that bastard make a fool 'outta me and live". Rodney meanwhile started talking on the phone while scanning the store for more valuables.

-"Yeah I think I'll need a big one sent over here, I gots some quality stuff here, now I offer 20k for all of the merchandise in the store..Well of course I get to keep the money, I robbed the damn place!"-Rodney kept arguing with one of his contacts, not noticing Blake's silent approach. -"No, I'm not sharing it either...Well screw you too!..God what an asshole"-He hung up and placed the phone on the counter, letting out a deep sigh, trying to figure out what to do now.

Blake was just a few steps away, he stopped walking, pointing the gun and aiming it on Rodney's head. -"Hello asshole"-He smirked, revealing himself to Rodney-"Blake?"-Rodney turned around to see Blake aiming the pistol at him. -"What the hell are you doing?"-"A little something I like to call _revenge_ "-Blake replied with a chuckle, pulling the trigger and seeing Rodney drop dead with blood coming out of his head. -"Nobody pisses me off and gets away with it"-He added, stepping on Rodney's chest with his shoe, pressing hard on it before letting go. He walked past the bleeding corpse, collecting the goods that Rodney planned to steal. -"Now if you excuse me, I got some money to collect".


End file.
